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COLUMBUS  AS   A  YOUT5 


CHILD'S   HISTORY   OF   SPAIN 


BY 


JOHN   BONNER 

AUTHOR  OF  "A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  ROME" 
"A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  FRANCE"  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 
1894 


Copyright,  1894,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 


All  rights  reserved. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  FKOM  THE  BEGINNING  TO  THE  ROMAN  CONQUEST  .    .  1 

II.  THE  GOTHS  IN  SPAIN 9 

III.  THE  MOORISH  CONQUEST 16 

IV.  WHO  WERE  THE  MOORS? 22 

V.  THE  CONQUEST 30 

VI.  ABDERRAHMAN  THE  FIRST 36 

VII.  ABDERRAHMAN'S  SUCCESSORS 45 

VIII.  FLORA  AND  MARY 52 

IX.  ABDERRAHMAN  THE  THIRD 56 

X.  THE  GREAT  VIZIER 66 

XI.  THE  CHRISTIANS  OF  NORTHERN  SPAIN 72 

XII.  THE  CID  CAMPEADOR 80 

XIII.  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAS  NAVAS 85 

XIV.  SEVILLE 93 

XV.  CASTILE  AND  ARAGON 103 

XVI.  THE  MOORS  AT  GRANADA 108 

XVII.  ZAHARA  AND  ALHAMA 117 

XVIII.  BORDER  WARFARE 122 

XIX.  THE  FALL  OF  MALAGA 128 

XX.  THE  FALL  OF  GRANADA     ..........  134 

XXI.  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOORS 142 

XXII.  THE  CONDITION  OF  SPAIN 149 

XXIII.  COLUMBUS 156 

XXIV.  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 161 

XXV.  THE  SECOND  VOYAGE  .  168 


2OS8£01 


Vlli  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXVI.  THE  DEATH  OF  COLUMBUS 178 

XXVII.  THE  END  OP  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA      .     .    .  186 

XXVIII.  CHARLES  THE  FIRST .    .  193 

XXIX.  HERNANDO  CORTEZ 202 

XXX.  IN  THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO 209 

XXXI.  CORTEZ  DRIVEN  OUT  OP  MEXICO 216 

XXXII.  THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO 222 

XXXIII.  PIZARRO 227 

XXXIV.  THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU 231 

XXXV.  PHILIP  THE  SECOND 236 

XXXVI.  THE  DUKE  OF  ALVA 244 

XXXVII.  DON  JOHN  OF  AUSTRIA 250 

XXXVIII.  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  MALTA 257 

XXXIX.  THE  MORISCOES 263 

XL.  SPAIN  UNDER  PHILIP  THE  SECOND 268 

XLI.  Two  MORE  PHILIPS  ....    1 279 

XLII.  CHARLES  THE  SECOND 285 

XLIII.  PHILIP  THE  FIFTH 292 

XL1V.  FERDINAND  THE  SIXTH 298 

XLV.  CHARLES  THE  THIRD 301 

XLVI.  THE  PRINCE  OF  THE  PEACE 307 

XL VII.  THE  OLD  KING  AND  THE  NEW  ONE 313 

XLVIII.  KING  JOSEPH 319 

XLIX.  THE  FRENCH  IN  SPAIN 324 

L.  FERDINAND  THE  SEVENTH 329 

LI.  THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  COLONIES 337 

LII.  THE  WOMAN  FROM  NAPLES 344 

LIII.  ISABELLA 352 

LIV.  SPAIN  IN  OUR  DAY  .  357 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Columbus  as  a  Youth .  .  Frontispiece. 

The  Bay  of  Biscay page  3 

King  Ramirez 11 

The  Evening  Prayer 20 

A  Moorish  Fort 23 

Mosque  of  Medina,  Containing 

the  Prophet's  Tomb 27 

The  Entrance  to  Toledo 31 

At  the  Fountain,  Cordova 37 

Street  Scene,  with  Goats,  Toledo.  4 1 

A  Patio  in  Toledo 43 

The  Moorish  Gate,  Seville 47 

Restoration   of   the   Mosque  at 

Cordova 59 

The  Garden  of  the  Alcazar,  Cor- 
dova   63 

The  Archway  of   St.  Mary   at 

Burgos 67 

Church  at  Valencia 75 

The  Cathedral,  Seville 87 

A  Moorish  Camp 90 

A  Street  Corner,  Seville 95 

A  Lane  in  Seville 99 

The  Giralda  Tower,  Seville 101 

Girls    Drawing   Water    at    the 

Fountain,  Toledo 109 

The  Surrender  of  Granada. .  .    ,135 


In  the  Dusk  at  Granada. .  ..page  143 
"Remember  that  thou  too  must 

die" 153 

The  World  as  It  was  Known  in 

Columbus's  Time 157 

Vision  on  the  Voyage. .  .~ 163 

Landing  of  Columbus 165 

The  Bradley  Portrait  of  Colum- 
bus. » 169 

A  Spanish  Caravel 173 

Front  of  Spanish  Church 179 

Death-bed  of 'Queen  Isabella. . .   183 
Charles    the     Fifth    and     His 

Friends  in  Marble 194 

Charles  the  First 199 

Pyramid  of  Cholula 211 

Tree  of  Montezuma 213 

Aztec  Calendar  Stone 217 

Philip  the  Second 237 

Work-room  of  Philip  the  Second.  239 
Crucifix    to   which    Philip    the 

Second  Prayed 241 

Spanish  Galleys  in  a  Sea-fight. .   253 

Irrigating  Near  Alicante 266 

A  Garlic  Seller 269 

Coffins  of  the  Kings,  in  the  Es- 
curial.  .  .   271 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Tomb  of  Philip  the  Second 

at  the  Escurial page  273 

Choir  of  the  Church  in  the  Es- 
curial    277 

The  Village  Curate 280 

Doing  Penance 282 

The  Monastery  at  the  Escurial.   287 
Court  of  the  Evangelists,  in  the 

Escurial 290 

At  Mid-day  in  the  Sun 293 

On  the  Road  to  the  Bull-fight. .   295 


A  Spanish  Monk page  303 

A  Professional  Beggar 309 

Peasants  in  the  Market-place  . .  315 

Going  to  Market 331 

A  Street  Barber  Operating  on  a 

Customer 335 

"  All  the  day  long  I  am 

happy" 345 

A  Serenade 349 

The  Great  Square  at  Madrid  ...  358 
How  They  Thresh  Grain  in  Spain  360 


A   CHILD'S   HISTORY   OF   SPAIN 


CHAPTER  I 

SPAIX— FROM   THE    BEGINNING  TO   THE   ROMAN  CONQUEST 
500   B.C.-50   A.D. 

AWAY  down  in  the  south-western  corner  of  Europe,  cut 
off  from  the  rest  of  the  continent  by  a  range  of  mountains 
six  to  twelve  thousand  feet  high,  is  the  beautiful  country 
of  Spain.  It  is  a  country  of  lofty  and  rugged  mountain 
chains  and  long  level  plains.  Some  of  the  latter  lie  low, 
and  are  watered  by  flowing  rivers;  here  the  climate  is 
genial  and  the  rainfall  copious,  so  that  the  fields  are  fat 
and  rich;  others,  in  the  centre  of  the  country,  stand  higher 
above  the  level  of  the  sea ;  these  have  a  scanty  rainfall,  ex- 
cessive heat  in  summer,  and  extreme  cold  in  winter,  and  are 
sometimes  baked  and  sometimes  frozen,  but  always  dry  and 
poor.  In  the  north  the  Basque  peasant  in  his  long  ragged 
black  cloak  cowers  from  the  bleak  winds  from  the  Atlantic 
and  the  biting  gales  from  the  snow-clad  ridge  of  the  Pyre- 
nees and  the  Cantabrians  ;  in  the  south,  the  gay  Andalu- 
sian  is  warmed  by  balmy  breezes  from  the  Mediterranean, 
and  sleeps  his  noonday  sleep  under  groves  of  gently  wav- 
ing palms  or  orange-trees,  or  beneath  broad  vine-leaves,  or 
in  orchards  laden  with  fragrant  fruit,  or  in  snug  corners  of 
fields  yellow  with  golden  wheat.  Thus  Spain  is  divided 
into  a  paradise  and  a  wilderness. 
1 


2  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN    [500  B.C.-SO  A.D. 

Long,  long  ago,  before  history  began  to  be  written,  Spain 
was  probably  part  of  Africa.  On  the  Cape  of  Gibraltar  live 
thirty  or  forty  monkeys  of  the  African  breed;  an  old  Span- 
ish legend  says  that  they  still  visit  their  old  home,  from 
time  to  time,  by  a  submarine  tunnel  under  the  Mediterra- 
nean. In  old  prehistoric  times  the  country  was  overrun  with 
mammoths  and  other  enormous  preadamite  monsters,  whose 
bones  are  still  found  in  great  heaps  in  the  mountains. 
After  their  day  came  volcanic  convulsions  which  altered 
the  shape  of  the  country,  uptwisted  mountain  ranges, 
burst  yawning  chasms,  tilted  great  layers  of  rock  on 
edge,  cut  channels  for  rivers,  and  perhaps  opened  a  way 
for  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  to  empty  into  the  At- 
lantic through  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar. 

We  first  hear  of  Spain  four  or  five  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  when  the  Phoenicians  of  Tyre  planted  a  colony  near 
the  present  seaport  of  Cadiz.  Two  or  three  hundred  years 
later  we  again  hear  of  it,  when  the  mighty  trading  city  of 
Carthage  founded  the  town  which  is  now  called  Cartha- 
gena,  and  sent  a  general  with  an  army  of  fifty  thousand  men 
and  two  hundred  elephants  to  conquer  the  coasts  of  Spain. 

At  that  time  the  peninsula  was  inhabited  by  two  races, 
who  were  know  as  Iberians  and  Celts,  and  who  afterwards 
blended  and  were  then  called  Celtiberians.  The  Iberians 
came  from  Africa,  and  were  short,  dark-skinned  men, 
though  not  negroes;  the  Celts  came  from  the  North,  were 
tall  and  white,  wore  their  hair  in  long  braids,  and  dressed 
in  leathern  coats,  over  which  they  threw  long  black  cloaks. 
They  spent  their  time  in  war  or  at  the  chase,  while  their 
women  tilled  the  fields.  Their  weapons  were  swords  and 
spears  of  iron,  and  they  were  skilled  horsemen.  They  lived 
chiefly  on  vegetables,  fruits,  acorns,  and  chestnuts,  and 
were  not  acquainted  with  strong  liquor.  In  some  respects 
they  may  remind  you  of  some  of  our  Indian  tribes. 

These  races  were  intermarrying,  or  living  peaceably  side 
by  side,  and  growing  in  numbers,  when  the  Carthaginians 
invaded  Spain.  The  latter  were  a  very  superior  people  to 


500  B.C.-SO  A.D.]    A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  5 

the  Celtiberians ;  highly  educated,  far-seeing,  good  soldiers, 
good  sailors,  and,  above  all,  good  merchants.  They  taught 
the  natives  how  to  work  their  mines  of  silver  and  gold  and 
lead  and  iron ;  they  bought  the  produce  of  the  mines  and 
the  fields  and  the  orchards,  and  gave  in  exchange  the 
goods  of  Carthage  and  of  Tyre  ;  they  kept  order  with 
their  armies,  and  when  Greek  marauders  landed  they 
drove  them  off  with  their  well-drilled  regiments  and  their 
elephants  ;  they  treated  the  Celtiberians  so  fairly  that  the 
two  races  became  friends,  and  when  the  Carthaginian  gen- 
eral proposed  that  Spain  should  become  a  province  of 
Carthage  the  Celtiberians  agreed.  Thus,  for  the  first 
though  not  for  the  last  time  in  history,  Spain  came  to  be 
ruled  by  men  of  the  Arab  race  from  Africa. 

It  did  not  all  become  Carthaginian,  however.  There 
were  a  few  Greek  settlements  here  and  there  along  the 
coast,  and  as  Greece  went  down  and  Rome  rose  up,  some 
of  these  became  more  Roman  than  Greek.  Such  a  place 
was  Saguntum.  On  the  place  where  it  stood  there  is  now 
a  small  Spanish  town  called  Murviedro,  or  Old  Walls; 
something  over  twenty- one  hundred  years  ago  it  was  a 
rich  and  powerful  city,  with  high  stone -walls,  an  amphi- 
theatre, an  aqueduct,  temples,  and  other  fine  buildings.  It 
was  full  of  brave  people,  who  were  stanch  friends  of 
Rome.  Now  it  befell  at  this  time  that  Rome  and  Carthage 
were  foes.  They  had  waged  one  war  which  had  lasted 
twenty-three  years,  and  had  ended  in  the  defeat  of  Car- 
thage. A  young  Carthaginian  general,  named  Hannibal, 
who  was  then  in  Spain,  resolved  to  reopen  the  fight,  and  to 
begin  by  attacking  Saguntum. 

For  the  work  he  mustered  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand troops,  most  of  whom  were  Spaniards.  A  Spanish 
poet,  writing  many  centuries  afterwards,  sang : 

"Lord  Hannibal  upon  the  town 

His  hirelings  brings  from  far  ; 
The  men  of  Ocana  come  down 
To  serve  him  in  the  war. 


6  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  sfAix    [600  B.C.-SO  A.n. 

With  all  that  Andalusia  yields 

Her  trooping  soldiers  come; 
From  rich  Granada's  fertile  fields, 

From  Cadiz  washed  with  foam, 
With  guards  and  spears  and  helms  and  shields 

They  march  to  fight  with  Rome." 

Hannibal  attacked  the  place  with  high  towers  which 
overtopped  the  walls,  and  from  which  huge  stones,  thrown 
by  machinery  upon  the  parapet,  cleared  it  of  defenders; 
while  an  immense  battering-ram  with  a  steel  head,  and 
driven  by  twoscore  men,  working  day  and  night,  at  length 
made  a  breach  in  the  wall.  Then  the  leading  Saguntines 
kindled  a  great  fire  in  the  public  square,  and  after  throw- 
ing their  gold  and  silver  into  it,  leaped  into  the  flames 
themselves.  The  victorious  army  swarmed  into  the  city 
and  showed  no  mercy.  Saguntum  was  burned,  and  though 
the  Romans  long  afterwards  undertook  to  rebuild  it,  it 
never  regained  its  former  state. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  second  war  between 
Rome  and  Carthage.  It  opened  with  splendid  victories 
by  young  Hannibal,  who  overran  Italy  and  defeated  army 
after  army.  But  the  dogged  tenacity  of  the  Romans  won 
at  last ;  Carthage  received  her  death-blow,  and  Hanni- 
bal himself  committed  suicide  in  exile.  You  will  find  a 
trace  of  his  service  in  Spain  in  the  town  of  Barcelona, 
which  was  named  after  his  family — Barca. 

While  Hannibal  was  winning  victories  in  Italy,  the 
Romans  resolved  to  carry  the  war  into  Spain.  They  sent 
an  army  there  under  Publius  Scipio,  and  he  was  defeated 
and  killed;  then  another  army,  under  his  brother  Cneius 
Scipio,  and  he  was  defeated  and  killed;  then  a  third,  under 
Publius  Cornelius  Scipio,  who  was  afterwards  known  as 
the  African,  and  he  conquered  the  country,  though  he  was 
only  twenty-four  years  old.  When  he  landed,  with  eleven 
thousand  men,  somewhere  near  Barcelona,  nine-tenths  of 
Spain  was  Carthaginian;  in  seven  or  eight  years  all  Spain, 
except  a  town  or  two  here  and  there,  was  Roman.  This  he 


500  B.C.-50  A.D.]     A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  7 

accomplished  not  so  much  by  fighting  as  by  policy  and  kind- 
ness. Then,  as  now,  the  Spaniards  were  a  hot-headed,  im- 
pulsive people;  they  had  never  warmed  to  the  Carthagin- 
ians, who  were  harsh  and  cruel.  Scipio  was  gentle  and 
generous. 

When  the  Carthaginians  won  a  victory  they  held  the 
finest  youths  among  their  vanquished  foes  as  hostages  for 
the  good  behavior  of  their  tribe.  Scipio  asked  for  no 
hostages.  Among  the  Carthaginians  beautiful  maidens 
were  always  spoil  of  war.  After  a  battle,  when  a  lovely 
Spanish  girl  was  brought  to  Scipio  as  his  prize,  he  restored 
her  to  her  lover,  and  gave  her  a  dowry.  He  was  always 
just  and  kind;  and  this  was  so  surprising  to  the  simple 
Spaniards,  accustomed  to  the  rough  Avays  of  a  brutal  age, 
that  they  regarded  Scipio  as  more  than  a  man,  and  offered 
to  make  him  king.  He  refused  the  title,  saying : 

"No  Roman  can  endure  the  name  of  king.  If  you 
think  that  the  royal  spirit  is  the  noblest  spirit  of  man,  I 
shall  be  glad  if  you  think  that  such  a  spirit  is  mine.  But 
you  must  never  call  me  king." 

So  completely  did  he  win  their  hearts  that  for  his  sake 
they  became  firm  friends  of  Rome.  And  you  will  find, 
as  you  read  this  history,  that  of  all  people  the  Spaniards 
are  the  most  faithful.  They  have  often  given  their  lives 
rather  than  break  their  troth.  They  were,  moreover,  at 
this  time  a  rich  people.  When  Scipio  took  the  city  which 
is  now  known  as  Carthagena,  he  received  as  part  of  the 
government's  share  of  the  plunder  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-six golden  bowls,  each  weighing  about  a  pound,  nine 
tons  of  wrought  and  coined  silver,  and  one  hundred  and 
thirteen  merchant  vessels. 

Before  he  died  he  saw  Roman  authority  firmly  planted 
over  Eastern  and  Southern  Spain.  In  the  North  and 
West  some  native  tribes  were  still  independent.  They 
were  generally  a  people  of  herdsmen  and  shepherds — poor, 
with  no  great  city  and  no  treasure  that  was  worth  steal- 
ing. They  were,  moreover,  brave  and  skilful  fighters,  and 


8  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN    [500B.C.-50  A.D. 

by  going  to  war  with  them  the  Romans  stood  to  win 
more  hard  knocks  than  plunder.  Therefore  the  Roman 
legions  kept  away  from  the  bulk  of  the  regions  which  are 
now  known  as  Portugal,  Estremadura,  the  Asturias,  Gali- 
cia,  Leon,  Castile,  and  the  windy  plateau  'on  which  Madrid 
stands,  and  clung  to  the  sunny  slopes  which  lean  to  the 
Mediterranean. 

On  those  purple  hills  which  look  into  the  Southern  Sea, 
and  in  the  leafy  valleys  between  them,  where  summer  is 
long  and  life  is  sweet,  and  fragrant  odors  and  the  buzz  of 
many  insects  lull  the  idler  to  sleep,  the  Roman  soldier, 
weary  of  war,  took  to  his  broad  breast  a  blushing  Spanish 
maiden,  who  in  his  arms  became  a  Roman  matron,  as  he 
in  hers  became  a  Spanish  citizen.  Thus  Spain  became 
Roman,  and  for  four  or  five  hundred  years,  when  Rome 
itself  was  ravaged  spring  and  fall  by  barbarian  invaders, 
it  was  a  home  of  Roman  civilization,  a  refuge  of  Roman 
letters,  a  centre  of  Roman  spirit. 

Some  of  the  wisest  statesmen,  several  of  the  most  skil- 
ful generals,  a  few  of  the  most  brilliant  writers  of  the  later 
ages  of  Rome,  were  born  in  Spain.  The  Emperors  Trajan 
and  Hadrian  were  both  born  near  Seville ;  Marcus  Aure- 
lius  was  born  at  Rome  of  Spanish  parents;  the  Senecas  and 
the  poet  Lucan  at  Cordova ;  the  poet  Martial  in  Aragon ; 
Quintilian,  the  grammarian,  in  Navarre.  These  great  men 
generally  spent  their  lives  at  Rome;  but  some  of  them, 
as  death  approached,  returned  to  lay  their  bones  in  the 
country  of  their  birth,  by  the  side  of  the  flowing  rivers 
they  loved,  and  under  the  kindly  skies  they  had  gazed  at 
in  their  boyhood.  During  the  first  centuries  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  Spain  was  a  more  peaceful  and  happier  country  to 
live  in  than  Italy. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  GOTHS  IN  SPAIN 

A.D.  200-700 

FOR  over  five  hundred  years  after  the  Roman  conquest 
Spain  was  tranquil.  The  only  interruption  to  peace  was 
an  uprising  by  a  proconsul  named  Sertorius,  Avho  for  a 
time  established  an  independent  government  in  the  North. 
He  defied  the  utmost  power  of  Rome  for  ten  years,  and 
might  have  founded  an  empire,  for  he  was  brave,  wise,  and 
honest,  had  he  not,  in  a  moment  of  forgetfulness,  accept- 
ed a  bidding  to  a  banquet  given  by  some  refugees  from 
Rome,  who  murdered  him  as  he  sat  at  table. 

He  was  adored  by  his  people.  There  is  a  legend  that 
one  of  the  secrets  of  his  power  was  his  ownership  of  a 
white  fawn,  which  he  had  tamed,  and  which  came  at  his 
call  and  ate  out  of  his  hand.  He  persuaded  the  ignorant 
Spaniards  that  this  creature  came  to  him  from  Heaven, 
held  converse  with  the  gods,  and  advised  him  in  moments 
of  trouble.  The  Spaniards,  like  most  dwellers  in  mount- 
ainous, volcanic  regions,  have  always  been  a  superstitious 
people,  prone  to  believe  things  incredible.  It  would  have 
been  well  for  them  if  they  had  never  cherished  wilder  de- 
lusions than  the  one  about  the  white  fawn. 

During  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  unending 
conflict  raged  between  the  Roman  Empire  and  wild  tribes 
of  Northern  Europe,  who  bore  various  names,  among  oth- 
ers Vandals,  Sueves,  Franks,  Alemans,  Saxons,  Burgun- 
dians,  and  especially  Goths.  These  last  came  from  the 
shore  of  the  Baltic,  and  were  sometimes  distinguished  as 
Visigoths  and  Ostrogoths.  They  and  rough  races  like 
them  ravaged  the  Roman  country,  from  the  turbulent  Bay 


10  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [200-700 

of  Biscay  to  the  Danube,  and  plundered  in  turn  the  re- 
gions which  we  now  call  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and 
Austria.  For  a  long  time  the  lofty  wall  of  the  Pyrenees 
kept  them  out  of  Spain;  but  an  hour  came  when  the  bar- 
barous tribes,  thirsting  for  new  towns  to  sack,  scaled  the 
mountain  wall  and  poured  into  the  valley  of  the  Ebro. 
They  were  terrible  visitors ;  often  giants  in  size  and 
strength,  with  blue  eyes,  long  yellow  hair,  and  coats  of 
sheepskin  or  fur  on  their  backs.  They  could  neither  read 
nor  write,  but  they  could  fight  from  the  dawn  of  day  to 
the  setting  of  the  sun. 

The  first  tribes  which  settled  in  Spain  were  Sueves  and 
Vandals.  They  roamed  through  the  North,  robbing  cities 
and  carrying  off  flocks  and  herds.  The  Spaniards  called 
upon  Rome  for  help ;  but  Rome  could  not  'even  defend 
herself.  She  was  glad  when  a  Gothic  chief,  Ataulph,  or 
Adolphus,  a  brother  of  Alaric  the  Goth,  offered  to  drive 
the  Vandals  and  Sueves  out  of  Southern  France  and 
Spain,  on  the  condition  that  Rome  should  give  them  to 
him,  and  with  them  the  Emperor's  sister,  Honoria,  a  lady 
of  remarkable  beauty,  to  be  his  wife.  The  bargain  was 
closed  on  these  terms.  At  the  head  of  an  army  of  Goths 
Ataulph  scattered  the  other  barbarians  ;  not,  however,  un- 
til the  Vandals  had  given  their  name  to  the  most  lovely 
portion  of  the  country,  which  to  this  day  is  known  as 
Andalusia. 

Then  Ataulph  founded  a  Gothic  empire  in  Spain,  and 
chose  for  his  capital  the  beautiful  city  of  Barcelona,  on 
the  Mediterranean.  His  Goths  mingled  and  intermarried 
with  the  Spaniards,  and  in  course  of  time  it  was  difficult 
to  distinguish  one  people  from  the  other.  The  Goths  had 
conquered  the  Spaniards  on  the  battle-field,  but  the  Span- 
iards had  civilized  their  conquerors,  and  forced  upon  them 
the  manners  and  customs  and  language  of  Rome. 

During  several  hundred  years  many  kings  succeeded 
each  other  on  the  Gothic  throne.  Ataulph  did  riot  reign 
long.  As  he  was  reviewing  his  troops  a  dwarf  crept  up 


200-700]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  13 

behind  him  and  stabbed  him  in  the  back.  His  successor, 
Sigeric,  thought  to  make  himself  secure  on  his  throne  by 
causing  the  six  little  children  of  Ataulph  to  be  put  to 
death ;  but  the  people  said  this  was  going  too  far,  and 
they  killed  the  murderer.  A  good  riddance  !  Then  there 
came  a  king  named  Wallia,  who  waged  successful  war 
upon  the  remnant  of  the  Vandals  and  Sueves,  and  penned 
them  up  in  corners  of  Spain;  and  after  him  came  Theod- 
oric,  also  a  valiant  fighter,  who  helped  defeat  Attila, 
King  of  the  Huns,  the  Scourge  of  God,  on  the  battle-field 
at  Chalons.  Both  Attila  and  Theodoric  died  of  wounds 
received  in  this  battle.  The  next  Gothic  king,  Evaric, 
was  the  most  powerful  and  the  wisest  of  the  Gothic  mon- 
archs.  All  nations  sent  embassies  to  make  treaties  with 
him.  He  drew  the  Gothic  code  of  laws,  which  was  in 
force  for  many  centuries,  and  is  the  basis  of  the  system 
of  laws  which  is  in  force  in  Spain  to-day. 

We  are  told  there  were  thirty-two  Gothic  kings  in  all, 
and  that  of  these  eight  were  usurpers,  four  were  dethroned, 
and  eight  were  murdered.  As  they  did  little  except  to 
quarrel  and  make  war  on  their  neighbors,  I  do  not  think 
you  would  care  to  hear  much  about  them.  There  was  a 
king  named  Leovigild,  who,  like  Evaric,  became  a  monarch 
of  repute.  He  held  his  court  at  Toledo,  dressed  in  purple, 
and  sat  on  a  throne.  He  levied  heavy  taxes  on  his  people, 
and  seized  the  estates  of  traitors,  by  which  means  he  was 
enabled  to  gather  a  vast  sum  of  money  into  his  treasury. 
It  was  in  his  reign  that  the  dispute  became  hot  between 
two  sects  into  which  the  Christians  were  divided — Arians 
and  Catholics.  The  king  was  an  Arian,  his  people  Cath- 
olics. While  he  reigned  the  Arians  were  in  the  ascendant. 
After  he  died,  A.D.  586,  the  Catholics  got  the  upperhand 
and  did  not  delay  to  crush  out  Arianism,  though  it  was 
the  ancient  faith  of  the  Goths. 

He  had  a  wife  whose  name  was  Goswinda,  and  whose 
temper  was  hot.  She  was  an  Arian.  Her  son  married  a 
French  princess  named  Ingunda,  who  was  a  Catholic. 


14  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [-200-700 

Goswinda  ordered  her  daughter-in-law  to  become  an  Ari- 
an;  Ingunda,  who  was  only  seventeen,  respectfully  de- 
clined to  do  anything  of  the  kind.  Thereupon  the  mother- 
in-law  seized  her  by  the  hair  of  her  head,  threw  her  down, 
trampled  on  her,  and  held  her  in  the  water  while  she  was 
baptized  by  an  Arian  priest.  The  young  lady  appealed 
to  her  husband  and  father-in-law  for  redress,  but  got  none. 
In  those  days  such  pleasantnesses  were  not  unusual  at  courts. 
It  was  a  son  of  Leovigild,  Ricared  by  name,  who  de- 
clared Catholicism  to  be  the  religion  of  Spain.  He  had 
been  an  Arian,  but  renounced  his  faith.  He  was  so  fortu- 
nate as  to  be  able  to  effect  the  religious  union  of  his  peo- 
ple without  war.  He  died  A.D.  601,  having  built  a  cathe- 
dral at  Toledo,  which  was  consecrated  to  the  Virgin  Mary. 
According  to  the  legend,  the  Virgin  herself  came  down 
from  heaven  to  inspect  it  when  it  was  finished,  and  if  you 
go  to  see  it,  you  will  be  shown  the  footprint  of  her  step 
on  the  stair. 

Seventy-one  years  after  Ricared,  in  the  year  A.D.  672,  the 
Gothic  lords  elected  a  farmer  named  Wamba  to  be  king. 
The  story  goes  that  their  messengers  found  Wamba 
ploughing  his  field;  that  when  they  told  him  their  er- 
rand he  laughed,  saying  that  he  would  be  king  when  leaves 
grew  on  his  staff.  With  which  words  he  smote  the  earth 
with  the  staff,  and  green  leaves  forthwith  sprouted  from  it. 
Whatever  you  may  think  of  this  story,  you  will  have  to 
admit  that  the  old  ploughman  was  a  valiant  and  gallant 
soldier.  He  carried  on  many  wars,  and  was  always  vic- 
torious. A  rebellion  breaking  out  at  Nismes,  which  then 
formed  part  of  the  Spanish  dominion,  Wamba  marched 
swiftly  to  the  city  and  stormed  it.  Numbers  of  the  de- 
fenders were  killed  in  the  attack  ;  their  leader  was 
brought  before  Wamba  in  chains. 

"  Thy  life,"  said  the  king,  "  will  I  spare,  though  the 
mercy  is  ill  deserved." 

He  ordered  the  prisoners'  heads  to  be  shaved  and  their 
beards  to  be  cut  off — it  was  esteemed  a  disgrace  to  wear  a 


200-700]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  15 

bare  chin — and  when  he  returned  to  Toledo  he  required 
them  to  march  in  front  of  the  army  with  bare  feet  and 
clothed  in  hair.  The  leader  wore  a  leather  crown,  which  I 
suppose  corresponded  to  the  leather  medal  of  our  day. 

I  wish  Wamba  had  been  as  merciful  to  the  Jews  as  he 
was  to  the  rebels.  But  he  hated  them  with  a  hatred 
which  nothing  could  appease,  and,  as  was  the  custom  of 
that  day,  he  persecuted  them  cruelly.  Toledo  was  said  to 
have  been  an  ancient  Jewish  city,  founded  before  Christ. 
How  the  Jews  got  there,  in  the  very  heart  of  Spain,  we  are 
not  told.  But  in  the  time  of  Wamba  they  were  numerous 
at  Toledo,  and,  as  is  their  custom,  they  had  grown  rich. 
The  king  robbed  them  of  their  wealth,  and  gave  them  the 
choice  of  turning  Christians  or  going  into  exile.  Thus  To- 
ledo lost  many  of  its  most  useful  and  enterprising  citizens. 

One  day  King  Wamba  fell  ill.  His  disease  deprived 
him  of  consciousness;  he  could  neither  see  what  was  going 
on  round  him,  nor  hear  what  was  said.  Now  there  was  a 
curious  custom  in  Spain  that  when  a  person  became  un- 
conscious on  his  death- bed  his  friends  could  shave  his  head, 
and  the  priests  could  ordain  him,  unconscious  as  he  was,  as 
a  monk  of  the  church;  the  object  being  to  secure  him  easy 
entrance  into  heaven,  whose  door  always  stood  wide  open 
for  the  priesthood.  King  Wamba's  courtiers,  being  sure 
that  he  was  going  to  die,  shaved' his  head,  and  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Toledo  received  him  into  the  Church  as  a-monk, 
and  ordained  him  with  the  usual  ceremonies. 

Fancy  their  surprise  next  day  when  the  king  got  better! 
His  majesty  was  a  good  deal  nonplussed  when  he  passed 
his  hand  over  his  head  and  found  his  hair  gone;  likewise 
when  he  observed  that  he  was  dressed  in  the  costume  of  a 
monk.  A  council  of  bishops  and  lawyers  was  summoned 
to  consider  the  case,  and  they  decided  that  the  rule — once 
a  priest,  always  a  priest — must  apply.  So  King  Wamba 
was  told  that  his  reign  was  over,  and  that  there  was  noth- 
ing for  him  to  do  but  to  retire  to  a  monastery  at  Burgos, 
which  he  did. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    MOORISH    CONQUEST 

A.D.  710-711 

WHEN  the  Goths  first  became  masters  of  Spain  they 
were  a  rude  tribe  of  savages,  without  learning  or  culture. 
After  they  had  mixed  with  the  natives  for  a  century  or  so 
they  became  a  refined  and  polished  people,  speaking  Latin, 
and  trained  in  letters,  law,  and  religion;  and  they  still  re- 
mained warlike  and  manly.  But  after  they  had  been  two 
or  three  centuries  in  possession  of  the  rich  valleys  of 
Spain  they  acquired  idle  and  luxurious  habits,  spent  their 
lives  in  drinking  and  feasting  and  dancing,  and  thus  be- 
came as  weak  and  helpless  as  the  people  of  Italy. 

It  was  the  old  story.  Powerful  chiefs,  with  men-at- 
arms  under  their  command,  seized  the  richest  lands,  and 
made  the  common  people  till  them  for  their  food  and 
clothes.  The  man  who  drove  the  plough  was  cowed,  house- 
less, hungry,  ragged,  unkempt,  filthy,  and  ignorant.  The 
man  who  owned  the  land  lived  in  a  splendid  castle,  with 
soldiers  guarding  the  gate.  He  wore  clothes  of  silk  and 
rich  stuffs,  ate  choice  food,  drank  fine  wines,  took  his  siesta 
in  the  shade  of  olive  groves,  where  fragrant  flowers  per- 
fumed the  air,  listened  to  the  sweet  music  of  lutes,  or 
lazily  watched  lovely  girls  dancing  on  Persian  carpets  for 
his  delight.  You  know  that  there  was  too  much  contrast 
here  for  such  a  society  to  last.  When  the  pillars  of  the 
arch  are  so  very  far  apart  the  corner-stone  is  apt  to 
fall  in. 

At  the  close  of  the  Gothic  period  in  Spain  a  good  deal 
of  fable  is  mixed  with  the  history.  The  Gothic  king  was 
named  Roderick;  of  that  there  can  be  no  doubt.  He  is 


710-711]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  17 

said  to  have  been  brutal,  reckless,  headstrong,  and  incap- 
able ;  of  that  there  is  no  certainty  at  all. 

The  legend  says  that  at  Toledo  there  was  a  house  which 
had  been  built  by  Hercules,  the  strong  man  of  Greece,  and 
which  was  called  "  The  House  of  God."  It  was  the  law 
that  no  one  should  enter  that  house;  and  for  the  better 
assurance  of  this,  every  king  set  his  seal  upon  the  door. 
Roderick  had  set  his  seal  with  the  others.  But  after- 
wards, consumed  with  curiosity  to  know  what  was  in  the 
house,  he  broke  his  own  and  the  other  kingly  seals  and 
forced  his  way  in.  First  he  saw  the  statue  of  a  man  of 
prodigious  size  lying  in  bed,  and  he  knew  that  this  was 
Hercules.  Then  he  went  on,  and  he  came  to  a  room  of 
which  one  wall  was  dazzling  white,  another  pitch-black, 
the  third  an  emerald-green,  and  the  fourth  blood-red.  In 
this  room  stood  a  tall  pillar  ;  in  the  pillar  a  niche ;  in  the 
niche  a  casket  of  gold,  studded  with  precious  stones  and 
closed  with  a  lock  of  mother-of-pearl ;  and  in  the  casket  a 
white  cloth,  on  which  were  drawn  pictures  of  strange  men 
with  turbans  on  their  heads,  banners  in  their  hands,  swords 
hanging  from  their  necks,  bows  tied  to  their  saddles,  and  a 
scroll  underneath,  saying:  "Whosoever  shall  see  this  cloth 
shall  also  see  men  like  these  conquer  Spain  and  become  the 
lords  thereof." 

You  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  there  was  no  house  of 
Hercules,  no  colored  walls,  no  pillar,  no  casket,  no  pictures 
on  cloth,  and  no  scroll,  but  that  all  these  were  invented 
long  afterwards  by  the  rich  Moorish  fancy.  I  cannot  be 
as  sure  that  another  story  of  the  same  time  was  also  a 
fable,  but  I  suspect  it  was. 

Over  against  Spain,  on  the  northern  coast  of  Africa, 
dwelt  tribes  of  Moors  who  constantly  threatened  to  invade 
Europe.  To  hold  them  in  check,  Roderick  built  forts  in 
Africa,  and  filled  them  with  fighting  men  under  a  captain 
named  Julian.  Now  this  Julian  had  a  lovely  young 
daughter,  named  Clorinda,  whom  he  sent  to  Toledo  to  be 
educated,  and  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  the  king. 


18  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [710-71 1 

Forgetting  his  duty,  Roderick  fell  in  love  with  her,  and, 
though  he  had  a  wife  already,  carried  her  off  from  her 
boarding-school.  Her  relations  flew  to  arms  to  rescue  her, 
but  when  they  broke  into  the  place  where  she  was  shut  up 
she  refused  to  leave,  and  said  she  would  cast  her  lot  with 
the  king.  At  this  her  kinsmen  left  her  with  curses,  and 
from  that  time  to  this  the  Spaniards  have  never  christened 
a  girl-baby  by  the  name  of  Clorinda,  but  have  taken  pleas- 
ure in  giving  the  name  to  dogs. 

I  suspect  myself  that  this  story  was  made  up  long  after- 
wards to  excuse  the  treachery  of  Julian;  for,  according  to 
the  story,  just  at  this  time  that  officer  sent  word  to  the 
Moorish  chief  that  he  would  surrender  his  forts  if  the 
Moors  would  despatch  a  force  into  Spain  to  overthrow 
Roderick.  The  chief's  name  was  Mousa  or  Musa.  He  de- 
layed till  he  could  consult  the  Caliph;  then,  receiving  a 
favorable  reply,  he  sent  into  Spain  an  officer  named  Tarif 
with  five  hundred  men,  and  on  his  report  despatched  an- 
other army  of  seven  thousand  under  another  officer  named 
Tarik. 

These  invaders  are  called  Moors,  because  they  embarked 
for  Spain  from  Mauritania,  which  we  call  Morocco.  They 
were  a  mixed  race,  part  Arab  and  part  African,  of  whom 
I  will  tell  you  more  in  the  next  chapter.  Swarthy  but 
not  black,  fierce,  warlike,  unruly;  tireless  on  the  march,  and 
fearless  in  battle;  living  for  a  day  on  a  handful  of  fruit, 
with  a  mouthful  of  water;  devoted  heart  and  soul  to  the 
Moslem  faith,  which  they  believed  it  to  be  their  duty  to 
spread  through  the  world  by  fire  and  sword,  they  may 
perhaps  remind  you  of  the  Carthaginians,  who  sprang  from 
the  same  stock  and  lived  also  in  Northern  Africa.  They 
were  indeed  terrible  foes  for  the  weakened  Spanish  Goths 
to  encounter. 

When  Roderick  heard  of  their  landing  he  mustered  all 
the  troops  he  could  gather,  and  marched  down  to  Xeres, 
near  Cadiz,  with  ninety  thousand  men.  It  is  said  that  he 
went  into  battle  in  an  ivory  chariot  drawn  by  two  milk- 


710-711]  A    GUILD'S    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN  19 

white  mules,  but  this  is  not  certain.  What  is  certain  is  that, 
though  his  force  far  outnumbered  that  of  the  Moors,  even 
after  the  latter  had  been  reinforced  with  five  thousand 
fresh  troops,  he  was  beaten,  after  a  desperate  fight  which 
lasted  eight  days. 

There  is  an  old  Spanish  ballad  which  tells  the  story  of 
the  end  of  the  battle,  and  describes  the  despair  of  Rod- 
erick : 

".  He  climbed  into  a  hill-top, 
The  highest  he  could  see, 
Thence  all  about  of  that  wide  rout 
His  last  long  look  took  he; 
He  saw  his  royal  banners, 
Where  they  lay  drenched  and  torn, 
He  heard  the  cry  of  victory, 
The  Arabs'  shout  of  scorn. 
'  Last  night  I  was  the  King  of  Spain  : 
To-day  no  king  am  I. 
Last  night  fair  castles  held  my  train  : 
To-night  where  shall  I  lie  ? 
Last  night  a  hundred  pages 
Did  serve  me  on  the  knee  ; 
To-night  not  one  I  call  my  own, 
Not  one  pertains  to  me. 
Oh  !   Death,  why  now  so  slow  art  thou, 
Why  fearest  thou  to  smite  ?'" 

The  story  goes  that  the  king  was  drowned  in  the  Gua- 
dalquivir in  trying  to  escape.  His  body  was  never  found, 
but  his  crown  and  his  royal  robe  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Moors. 

His  army  scattered  ;  neither  officers  nor  men  were  true 
to  Roderick.  He  had  taught  them  to  hate  him  by  his  cru- 
elties and  his  folly.  The  Jews,  especially,  whom  he  had 
oppressed,  openly  took  sides  with  the  Moors,  in  order  to 
be  revenged  on  their  Christian  oppressors. 

Musa,  the  chief  general  of  the  Moors  in  Africa,  had 
ordered  his  lieutenant  Tank,  when  he  left  Africa,  to  give 
one  battle,  if  he  thought  it  safe,  but  not  to  follow  up  his 


20 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN 


[710-711 


victory,  if  he  won.  Musa  wanted  the  glory  of  conquest  for 
himself.  Tarik,  looking  out  for  his  own  glory,  chose  to 
disobey.  Without  an  hour's  delay,  after  the  battle  of  Xeres, 


THE  EVENING   PRAYER 


he  marched  north,  and  took  city  after  city.    The  Spanish 
spirit  had  been  broken. 

But  Musa  had  no  idea  of  letting  Tarik  play  the  part  of 


710-711]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  2i 

conqueror.  He  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  an  army, 
crossed  into  Spain,  marched  on  the  trail  of  his  lieutenant, 
took  Seville  and  Merida,  and  came  up  with  Tarik  outside 
the  walls  of  Toledo. 

The  Moorish  chief,  seated  on  a  prancing  charger,  met 
his  lieutenant  with  a  black  frown  on  his  brow  and  bitter 
words  on  his  tongue.  He  charged  Tarik  with  having  se- 
creted plunder  for  himself.  When  this  was  disproved, 
Musa  accused  him  of  having  aimed  at  making  himself  ruler 
of  Spain.  When  this  was  also  denied,  Musa  slashed  him 
across  the  face  with  his  whip  and  ordered  him  into  prison. 

While  the  Moorish  conquerors  were  quarrelling  among 
themselves  the  Spaniards  submitted  quietly  to  be  con- 
quered. They  were  tired  of  the  Goths  and  of  their  gov- 
ernment, which  latterly  had  neither  preserved  the  peace  nor 
pi'otected  the  peasant.  All  they  asked  of  the  Moors  was 
to  be  allowed  to  keep  their  old  laws  and  their  lands  on 
the  old  terms ;  these  conditions  the  conquerors  granted. 
As  to  their  religion,  the  Moors  promised  that  it  should  not 
be  interfered  with,  but  so  long  as  a  Spaniard  remained  a 
Christian  he  must  pay  head-money.  This  was  not  so  hard 
to  bear  as  some  of  the  oppressions  they  had  endured  when 
the  Gothic  chiefs  had  been  warring  against  each  other. 

As  you  read  Spanish  history  you  will  find  no  trait  in 
the  Spanish  character  more  clearly  marked  than  an  uncon- 
querable hatred  of  foreign  control.  That  trait  had  not  de- 
veloped when  the  Moors  overran  Spain  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  seven  hundred  and  eleven. 


CHAPTER  IV 

WHO  WERE  THE   MOORS? 

A.D.  630-711 

IN  order  that  you  shall  understand  something  of  the 
people  who  conquered  Spain  nearly  twelve  hundred  years 
ago,  and  who  held  the  best  part  of  it  for  over  seven  hun- 
dred years,  I  must  tell  you  something  of  their  origin. 

In  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  where  a  tropical  sun  scorches 
vast  stretches  of  sand,  divided  from  each  other  by  bare 
mountain  ranges,  and  grass  and  trees  only  grow  round  a 
well  or  spring,  to  which  the  traveller,  choked  with  dust  or 
sickened  by  breathing  air  which  is  full  of  sulphur  and  salt, 
staggers  at  the  close  of  a  sultry  day's  march,  in  order  to 
camp  for  the  night.  In  these  deserts  wandering  tribes 
of  dark-faced  men,  with  their  wives,  their  children,  their 
servants,  their  horses,  their  camels,  and  their  flocks  and 
herds,  lived  as  long  ago  as  history  remembers.  They  were 
Arabs  of  the  Desert.  They  rarely  ventured  out  of  their 
country,  and  strangers  seldom  visited  them.  They  were 
not  barbarians.  In  their  lonely  life  they  had  studied  many 
things,  among  others  astronomy,  mathematics,  and  poetry. 
They  lived  so  close  to  Nature  that  their  minds  inclined  to 
thoughts  of  God.  They  were  brave  and  warlike,  hardened 
to  fatigue,  and,  like  all  natives  of  barren  regions,  they 
could  live  on  a  few  dates,  or  a  frijole,  on  which  others 
would  have  starved. 

Among  these  Arabs  there  appeared,  in  the  first  quarter 
of  the  seventh  century,  a  teacher  whose  name  was  Mahomet, 
or  Mohammed.  He  proclaimed  to  the  Arabs  a  new  relig- 
ion, which  was  based  on  the  Old  Testament.  It  differed 
from  Christianity  in  that  it  did  not  admit  the  divinity  of 


630-711]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  25 

Christ,  but  it  resembled  Christianity  in  that  it  declared 
there  was  but  one  God.  It  also  declared  that  Mahomet 
was  his  prophet.  The  general  rules  of  life  which  this  new 
religion  proclaimed  were  much  like  the  rules  of  Christ, 
though  it  did  not  forbid  the  Eastern  practice  of  marrying 
more  than  one  wife,  and  did  forbid  the  use  of  wine.  It 
enjoined  three  chief  duties  :  the  duty  of  prayer,  the  duty 
of  self-denial,  and  the  duty  of  charity. 

Such  a  religion  was  a  vast  improvement  upon  the  relig- 
ions which  the  Eastern  nations  had  professed.  After  a 
few  years' consideration  the  Arabs  embraced  it;  and  having 
embraced  it,  they  resolved  to  spread  it  through  the  world 
by  force  of  arms.  In  this  enterprise  they  were  surprising- 
ly successful.  In  a  few  years  they  overran  Syria,  Persia, 
Egypt,  and  the  whole  of  Northern  Africa,  and  made  the 
people  adopt  their  faith.  It  looked  at  one  time  as  though 
Mahometanism,  or  Moslemism,  was  going  to  supersede 
Christianity. 

The  chief  holy  city  of  the  Moslem  Church  was  Mecca,  in 
Ai-abia  ;  but  when  the  Moslems  began  to  conquer  territory, 
their  chief  ruler  resided  at  Damascus,  in  Syria.  He  was 
called  a  caliph,  which  means  a  successor,  and  he  was  so 
called  to  indicate  that  he  was  a  successor  of  Mahomet.  He 
was,  in  fact,  a  Moslem  Pope,  with  temporal  as  well  as  spirit- 
ual power.  He  gave  orders  to  the  Moslem  armies  wher- 
ever they  were;  his  authority  extended  from  the  Indus  to 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  After  a  time  the  caliphs  removed  from 
Damascus  to  Bagdad.  I  dare  say  you  have  read  in  story- 
books accounts  of  one  of  the  caliphs  of  Bagdad  who  used 
to  go  round  in  disguise  to  see  how  his  officers  performed 
their  duties,  and  to  hear  what  people  said  of  him. 

These  Arabs  had  long  led  contented  lives  in  their  barren 
country,  surrounded  by  their  children,  their  fleet  horses, 
and  their  tireless  camels.  There  was  no  distinction  of  rank 
among  them.  All  dressed  alike,  ate  the  same  food,  bore 
the  same  privations  with  the  same  fortitude.  They  were 
hospitable  to  the  stranger,  and  merciful  to  the  prisoner.  In 


20  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [030-711 

speech  they  were  courteous.     They  loved  poetry,  and  well 
knew  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament.     When  Mahomet 
roused  them  to  undertake  the  spread  of  their  religion  by 
the  invasion  of  other  countries,  and  they  enlarged  their 
minds  by  mixing  with  foreigners,  the  Moslem  Arabs  be- 
came admirable  soldiers,  capable  of  long  inarches  on  short 
rations,  unconscious  of  fear,  and  submissive  to  discipline. 
Their  swift  horsemen  were  the  terror  of  an  enemy.     In 
peace  they  were  patient,  intelligent  workers.    They  farmed 
their  lands  with  skill,  and  toiled  with  unceasing  industry. 
They  made  fine  cloths  of  silk  and  wool  and  linen.     They 
forged  steel  swords  which  have  not  been  surpassed  in  tem- 
per by  the  best  weapons  of  our  day.     They  knew  much, 
for  the  times  in  which  they  lived,  of  various  sciences.     It 
is   from  the  language  they  used  that  we  borrowed  such 
words  as  alphabet,  algebra,  and  alchemy;   and  with  the 
names  we  borrowed   the   first  rudiments   of   the   things. 
They  invented  the  numerals  we  use.     You  will  see,  as  we 
go  on  with  this  Child's  History,  that  they  were  at  one 
time  the  most  learned  people  in  the  world. 

The  Moors  who  invaded  Spain  in  the  year  711  were  a 
branch  of  these  Moslem  Arabs.  They  were  called  Moors 
by  the  Christians,  because  they  embarked  for  the  enter- 
prise from  ports  in  Morocco,  and  also  because  a  consider- 
able number  of  them  were  natives  of  that  country.  Musa 
and  Tarik  were  Arabs,  born  in  Asia;  but  many  of  their 
regiments  consisted  of  Berbers,  who  were  men  of  the  Arab 
race,  born  and  bred  in  Northern  Africa. 

You  have  already  learned  what  manner  of  people  they 
found  in  Spain.  At  this  time  the  Goths  and  the  native 
races  had  completely  blended  into  one  race— Spaniards. 
Four  or  five  hundred  years  before  the  Moors  came  Spain 
was  a  centre  of  elegant  Roman  civilization.  Learning  was 
general,  manners  were  polished,  letters  were  cultivated, 
fine  cities  had  been  built  with  splendid  adornments,  and 
rich  people  lived  in  luxurious  villas,  in  which  life  was  a 
dream  of  pleasure.  At  that  time,  too,  the  poor  were  not 


MOSQUE   OP  MEDINA,   CONTAINING  THE  PROPHET'S  TOMB 


630-711]  A  CHILD'S  IIISTOKY  OF  SPAIN  29 

to  be  pitied,  for  everybody  had  or  could  have  a  farm;  nor 
wei'e  the  Spanish  soldiers  to  be  despised,  for  they  could 
hold  their  own  against  any  foe. 

But  by  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  vast  changes 
had  taken  place.  Luxury  had  ruined  the  rich,  and  brought 
the  poor  to  the  verge  of  starvation.  The  earnings  of  the 
farmer  were  taken  by  nobles,  to  be  spent  in  riotous  liv- 
ing. Feuds  between  family  and  family  constantly  turned 
whole  sections  of  the  country  into  a  wilderness.  No  Span- 
iard could  tell  when  he  might  be  called  out  to  fight  in  a 
quarrel  which  was  not  his  own.  No  one  could  go  to  bed 
sure  that  his  vineyai'd  and  his  wheat-field  would  not  be 
ravaged  in  the  night-time  by  an  enemy.  No  father  of  a 
family  could  feel  certain  he  would  not  be  stabbed  in  the 
back  as  he  filled  his  water-pail,  or  that  a  band  of  marauders 
would  not  carry  off  his  daughters. 

Of  course,  when  such  confusion  prevailed,  farming  was 
difficult,  industry  slow,  and  education  impossible.  The 
Spaniards  forgot  how  to  read.  The  science  of  war  was 
lost  when  there  were  no  armies,  and  everybody  was  skir- 
mishing on  his  own  account.  Courage  died  out  when  peo- 
ple fell  into  the  way  of  stabbing  each  other  from  behind. 
Even  the  national  spirit,  exhausted  by  never-ending  misery, 
faded  out  of  existence,  and  the  old  Spanish  love  of  country, 
which  had  taught  the  men  of  Saguntum  to  die  rather  than 
to  surrender  to  Hannibal,  had  become  a  dim  tradition. 

You  must  remember  these  contrasts  if  you  wish  to  un- 
derstand the  remaining  chapters  of  this  book. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    CONQUEST 

A.D.  711-777 

You  read  in  the  chapter  before  the  last  that,  after  the 
battle  in  which  King  Roderick  lost  his  life,  Tarik  swiftly 
moved  forward  and  captured  city  after  city.  Malaga 
made  no  resistance,  Granada  was  stormed ;  against  Cordova 
Tarik  sent  seven  hundred  cavalry,  who  found  a  breach  in 
the  walls,  and  broke  into  the  place.  The  Jews,  who  were 
numerous,  sided  with  the  Moors,  and  the  Christians  made 
but  a  feeble  resistance.  So  the  city  fell,  the  governor  and 
bishop  fled  for  refuge  to  a  convent,  where  they  stood  a 
three  months'  siege,  and  the  Jewish  rabbi  was  set  in  their 

place. 

At  only  one  town  was  any  semblance  of  resistance. 
This  was  Orihuela.  The  Christian  commander  was  one 
Theodemir.  He  sallied  forth,  gave  battle  to  the  Moors, 
and  lost  his  whole  army.  Returning  to  the  town  with  a 
single  page,  he  closed  the  gates  and  bade  every  woman  in 
the  place  dress  in  the  attire  of  a  man.  He  placed  sticks 
in  their  hands  to  resemble  lances,  and  had  each  draw  her 
long  hair  under  her  chin  so  that  as  the  Moors  approached 
in  the  dusk  of  the  evening  it  resembled  a  beard.  Then  he 
paraded  his  female  army  in  a  long  line  on  the  parapet. 
Surprised  at  the  appearance  of  troops  they  had  not  ex- 
pected, the  Moors  halted  and  camped  for  the  night. 

Before  they  slept  Theodemir  entered  the  camp  under  a 
flag  of  truce.  Stating  that  he  came  on  behalf  of  the  com- 
mander of  the  city,  he  offered  to  evacuate  it  next  morning, 
provided  the  army  and  the  inhabitants  were  allowed  to  go 
out  with  all  their  property.  If  this  were  denied,  they 


711-777] 


A    CHILD  S    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN 


31 


would  tight  till  the  last  man  fell.    The  Moors  accepted  the 
offer. 

Next  morning  they  were  surprised  to  observe  Theode- 
mir,  followed  by  a  single  page  and  a  crowd  of  women, 
emerge  from  the  gate.  They  asked  him  where  was  his 
army  that  was  going  to  fight  to  the  death. 


TIIH   ENTRANCE   TO   TOLEDO 

"There,"  replied  Theodemir,  patting  his  page  on  the 
head,  "  is  my  army." 

The  Moors  admired  his  stratagem  so  much  that  they 
made  him  Moorish  Governor  of  Murcia. 

On  from  Orihuela  the  Moors  pushed  to  Toledo,  the 
Gothic  capital.  There  they  expected  resistance.  But  the 
Jews,  who  had  been  so  cruelly  persecuted  there,  took  up 
arms  and  opened  the  gates  ;  the  Christian  nobles  and 
churchmen  fled  to  the  mountains,  and  Tarik  found  himself 


32  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [711-777 

in  possession  of  the  most  splendid  and  the  strongest  city 
of  Spain  without  striking  a  blow.  It  was  there  that  Musa, 
who  had  stopped  on  his  way  to  capture  Seville,  rejoined 
his  disobedient  lieutenant  and  disgraced  him,  as  you  read 
in  the  third  chapter  of  this  Child's  History. 

From  that  time  all  Southern  Spain,  from  the  Guadarrama 
Mountains  to  the  Cape  of  Gibraltar,  fell  under  Moorish 
control.  Here  and  there  a  band  of  Christians,  under  a  dar- 
ing leader,  would  rise  against  the  invaders,  but  after  a  few 
skirmishes  the  uprising  would  be  quelled.  The  Moors  held 
all  of  Andalusia,  with  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  Guadalquiv- 
ir and  the  Guadiana,  and  the  fine  cities  of  Cadiz,  Malaga, 
Granada,  Seville,  and  Cordova;  all  the  country  afterwards 
known  as  New  Castile,  with  the  valley  of  the  Tagus  and 
the  cities  of  Toledo  and  Madrid;  all  of  Murcia,  Aragon, 
and  Catalonia,  with  the  valley  of  the  Ebro,  and  the  towns 
of  Carthagena,  Valencia,  and  Barcelona.  The  Christians 
were  driven  back  into  the  northern  provinces  of  Galicia, 
the  Asturias,  Leon,  Old  Castile,  and  Navarre  —  a  region 
which  was  cold,  bleak,  and  broken.  All  of  Spain  that  was 
worth  having  belonged  to  the  Moors. 

I  must  say  that  in  the  beginning  they  governed  it  well. 
They  laid  a  poll-tax  on  Christians  and  Jews,  but  after- 
wards both  were  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  Moslems. 
The  Christians  had  their  own  churches.  Their  priests  and 
their  bishops,  their  magistrates  and  their  judges  were  of 
their  own  choosing.  The  land-tax  was  the  same  for  Mos- 
lem, Christian,  and  Jew.  Every  man,  whatever  his  religion, 
could  own  his  land  and  sell  it.  Under  the  Gothic  rule  the 
Christians  had  owned  large  numbers  of  slaves,  some  of 
whom  were  sold  with  the  farms  on  which  they  worked, 
and  could  not  be  separated  from  them.  The  Moslem  faith 
did  not  approve  of  slavery.  Any  Spanish  slave  could  ob- 
tain his  freedom  by  going  before  a  magistrate  and  saying, 
with  his  right  hand  uplifted, 

"There    is    no    God    but    God,   and    Mahomet    is    his 
prophet," 


711-777]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  33 

I  am  not  surprised  to  learn  that  conversions  among  the 
slaves  were  frequent. 

But  the  splendid  victory  of  the  Moors  did  not  benefit 
those  who  had  planned  it  and  carried  it  out.  Tarik,  with 
the  sting  of  Musa's  whip  still  tingling  on  his  cheek,  sent 
trusty  messengers  to  the  Caliph  at  Damascus  to  complain 
of  the  treatment  he  had  endured.  The  Caliph  ordered 
Musa  to  repair  to  Damascus  forthwith,  to  justify  himself, 
if  he  could.  He  went,  laden  with  treasures.  Scores  of 
wagons,  filled  with  gold  and  silver  ornaments;  four  hun- 
dred Gothic  nobles  forming  his  body  guard,  and  several 
thousand  male  and  female  slaves  of  matchless  beauty  fol- 
lowed him  to  the  city  of  the  Caliph.  He  fancied  that  he 
could  buy  his  grace;  but  the  Caliph  saw  in  the  conqueror 
of  Spain  a  dangerous  rival. 

Musa  was  heard,  and  bidden  to  await  his  sentence. 
Meanwhile  trusty  officers  were  sent  to  Spain  with  a  mes- 
sage for  Musa's  son,  Abdelaziz.  They  found  him  at  the 
palace  at  Cordova,  struck  him  down,  cut  off  his  head,  em- 
balmed it,  and  bore  it  to  Damascus.  Next  day  Musa  was 
sent  for,  and  shown  his  son's  head. 

"  Dost  thou  recognize  him  ?" 

"  I  do,"  said  the  father.  "  He  was  innocent,  and  I  in- 
voke God's  curse  on  his  assassin." 

He  was  an  old  man.  His  head,  which  was  snow-white, 
he  dyed,  after  the  fashion  of  his  times,  with  a  red  powder. 
In  battle  he  was  as  fierce  and  valiant  as  he  had  been  in 
his  youth.  But  at  the  sight  of  the  head  of  his  dearly 
loved  son  he  broke  down  and  buried  his  face  in  his  robe. 
The  Caliph  was  not  moved  by  his  grief.  He  sentenced  him 
to  pay  a  fine  which  took  everything  he  had.  Then  he  ordered 
him  to  go  in  exile  to  Mecca.  There  he  died  of  a  broken  heart. 

Nor  did  his  enemy  Tarik  meet  a  much  better  fate.  He, 
too,  was  ordered  to  Damascus  to  give  an  account  of  his 
doings  in  Spain.  He  was  acquitted  of  wrong,  and  as  a 
mark  of  favor  was  allowed  to  become  one  of  the  Caliph's 
slaves  in  the  palace. 
3 


34  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [711-777 

After  Musa  several  Moorish  governors,  some  appointed 
by  the  Caliph,  others  selected  by  their  tribes,  ruled  over 
Spain.  The  news  of  the  wealth  of  the  new  Moslem  prov- 
ince drew  to  it  Moslems  from  far  and  wide.  Bodies  of 
fighting  men  from  Syria,  from  Egypt,  from  Damascus, 
from  North  Africa  poured  into  Spain  and  fought  with 
each  other  for  the  rich  valleys.  In  their  fights  governor 
after  governor  was  killed.  None  of  them  claimed  to  rule 
the  whole  country;  the  authority  of  many  did  not  extend 
beyond  a  bowshot  from  the  castle  where  they  lived. 

About  the  only  one  who  deserves  your  attention  was 
named  Abderrahman.  He  led  an  army  of  Moors  into  France 
in  730,  and  captured  cities  and  spoil.  He  had  planned  the 
conquest  of  the  country  to  the  shore  of  the  Baltic,  and 
resolved  that  he  would  not  rest  till  there  was  not  a  Chris- 
tian left  in  Western  or  Southern  Europe.  Unluckily  for 
him,  when  he  got  as  far  as  the  valley  of  the  Loire,  in 
France,  in  732,  he  ran  against  an  army  of  Franks  and 
Gauls,  under  the  command  of  Charles  Martel  or  Charles  the 
Hammer.  Where  the  two  armies  met  is  not  now  exactly 
known.  It  was  somewhere  near  Tours.  But  wherever  it 
was,  Charles  the  Hammer  hammered  the  Moors  with  such 
tremendous  blows,  and  so  many  other  stalwart  Franks  and 
Gauls  hammered  after  him,  that  when  the  sun  went  down 
the  followers  of  Mahomet  were  flying  in  all  directions,  and 
when  the  sun  rose  again  nothing  was  to  be  seen  of  them 
anywhere.  Abderrahman  was  killed  in  the  battle,  and  his 
Moors  made  the  best  of  their  way  back  again  to  Spain,  hav- 
ing concluded  to  postpone  the  destruction  of  Christianity 
till  a  more  convenient  season. 

Forty-five  years  afterwards  the  grandson  of  Charles  the 
Hammer,  who  is  known  in  history  as  Charlemagne,  under- 
took to  avenge  the  Moorish  invasion  of  France  by  a  Frank 
invasion  of  Spain.  He  crossed  the  Pyrenees  in  777,  there 
expecting  to  find  allies  among  the  Moors  who  were  fight- 
ing among  themselves.  But  bitterly  as  the  Moorish  chiefs 
hated  each  other,  they  hated  the  Christian  Franks  more 


711-777]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  35 

bitterly,  and  Charlemagne  was  disappointed  in  their  aid. 
He  did  not  stop  to  give  battle  but  faced  north  and  re- 
crossed  the  mountains;  there,  in  the  pass  of  Roncesvalles, 
his  rear  guard  fell  into  an  ambuscade,  and  was  cut  off  to  a 
man.  It  is  said  that  thirty  thousand  were  destroyed  by 
rocks  and  darts  and  arrows,  which  the  Spaniards  poured 
upon  them  from  the  mountain  heights  as  they  wound 
thi'ough  the  defile  beneath. 

The  Spaniards  who  planned  this  ambuscade  and  de- 
stroyed the  Franks  were  largely  from  the  province  of 
Leon,  and  were  probably  not  Moors.  They  fought  simply 
for  their  country.  They  have  an  old  legend  which  says  : 

"With  three  thousand  men  of  Leon, 

From  the  city  Bernard  goes, 
To  protect  the  Spanish  soil 

From  the  spear  of  Frankish  foes; 
From  the  city  which  is  planted 

In  the  midst  between  the  seas, 
To  preserve  the  name  and  glory 

Of  old  Pelayo's  victories. 
At  least  King  Charles,  if  God  decrees 

He  must  be  lord  of  Spain, 
Shall  witness  that  the  Leonese 

Were  not  aroused  in  vain; 
He  shall  bear  witness  that  we  died 

As  lived  our  sires  of  old — 
Not  only  of  Numantian  pride 

Shall  minstrel  tale  be  told." 

You  will  not  read  of  another  invasion  of  Spain  by  the 
French  till  near  the  close  of  this  history. 


ABDERRAHMAN  THE  FIRST 
A.B.  750-788 

IN  the  year  750  the  Caliph  of  Damascus  was  overthrown 
and  killed  by  a  rival  who  was  called  the  Butcher,  and  who 
proved  his  right  to  the  title  by  murdering  every  member  of 
the  Caliph's  family  except  two.  Of  these  two  one  was  a 
young  man  named  Abderrahman,  who  saved  himself  by 
running  away  to  the  desert,  where  he  took  refuge  with  an 
Arab  family.  Hunted  by  the  Butcher,  he  ran  away  again, 
and  this  time  he  did  not  stop  till  he  reached  Africa,  where 
he  found  a  home  with  some  kindly  Berbers. 

The  Governor  of  the  Berber  country,  who  was  a  friend  of 
the  Butcher,  heard  of  him,  and  sent  a  party  of  soldiers  to 
seize  him.  But  the  Berbers  gave  him  warning;  he  escaped 
again,  and  this  time  he  did  not  rest  till  he  reached  the  sea- 
coast  of  Mauritania.  While  he  was  there  certain  of  the 
Moors  in  Spain,  who  had  been  loyal  to  the  murdered  caliph 
and  hostile  to  his  assassin,  heard  of  Abderraham  and  sent 
him  word  to  come  to  Spain.  The  Moors  had  ruled  Spain 
for  forty-four  years,  and  in  those  forty-four  years  they 
had  no  less  than  twenty  governors  or  emirs,  most  of  whom 
had  died  violent  deaths.  Warlike  as  the  Moors  were,  they 
sighed  for  peace. 

Abderrahman  landed  in  Andalusia  in  September,  755. 
He  was  only  twenty  years  old,  was  blind  of  one  eye,  and 
devoid  of  the  sense  of  smell.  But  he  was  tall,  stout,  strong, 
and  brave.  His  judgment  was  sound,  and  his  energy  pro- 
digious. I  am  sorry  to  say  that  with  these  good  qualities 
he  coupled  want  of  principle  and  cruelty.  His  word  was 
not  to  be  trusted,  and  no  man's  life  was  safe  in  his  hands. 
He  was  not  a  good  type  of  the  Moorish  chief. 


AT  THE  FOUNTAIN,  COKDOVA 


750-788]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  39 

He  took  with  him  seven  hundred  and  fifty  horsemen,  and 
the  blessing  of  the  old  Berber  chief,  whose  last  words  to 
him  were  : 

"  'Tis  the  finger  of  Heaven  which  beckons  you.  Your 
cimeter  shall  restore  the  honor  of  your  family." 

Great  numbers  of  Moors  in  Andalusia  flocked  to  his 
standard,  Seville  opened  her  gates  to  him,  and  next  spring, 
when  he  had  got  his  army  in  shape,  he  marched  on  Cor- 
dova. Governor  Yusuf,  who  had  been  appointed  over 
Spain  by  the  Butcher,  came  forth  to  meet  him.  The  two 
armies  were  separated  by  the  river  Guadalquivir,  swollen 
by  the  spring  rains.  As  they  gazed  at  each  other  across 
the  rolling  flood  Abderrahman  offered  to  treat  for  peace  if 
Yusuf  let  him  cross  without  resistance;  the  offer  was  ac- 
cepted, and  when  Abderrahman's  troops  got  across  they 
fell  upon  Yusuf's  army  and  cut  it  in  pieces.  This  treach- 
ery gave  him  possession  of  Cordova. 

Most  of  Spain  submitted  with  little  hesitation.  Nearly 
fifty  years  of  war  had  inclined  the  Moors  to  peace.  They 
secretly  respected  the  vigor  with  which  Abderraham  put 
down  rebellions  against  his  authority;  they  said  to  each 
other  that  such  a  man  knew  how  to  rule.  One  party  of 
Moors,  who  were  friends  of  the  Butcher,  beset  him  at 
Carmona.  He  attacked  them  and  defeated  them.  Then 
cutting  off  the  heads  of  the  officers,  he  labelled  them  and 
sent  them  in  sacks  to  the  Butcher.  The  latter  inspected 
them  with  a  grim  face,  and  said  : 

"Thank  God,  there  is  a  sea  between  that  man  and  me!" 

Toledo  was  one  of  the  last  cities  to  yield.  It  opened  its 
gates  at  last  on  promise  of  fair  treatment  by  the  conqueror. 
But  he  no  sooner  entered  the  city  than  he  seized  the  chief 
citizens  and  crucified  them. 

He  chose  as  his  capital  the  city  of  Cordova,  and  when 
you  visit  that  grand  old  city  you  will  see  many  traces  of 
his  work,  and  of  the  work  of  his  successors.  He  built 
dikes  along  the  Guadalquivir,  and  planted  on  its  banks 
gardens  in  which  Eastern  trees  and  plants  grew.  It  is  said 


40  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [760-788 

that  he  was  the  first  to  plant  the  palm-tree  in  Spain.  It 
reminded  him  of  his  Arabian  home,  though,  as  he  said,  the 
palm  and  the  Euphrates  had  forgotten  his  early  griefs. 

He  loved  poetry,  and  wrote  verse  which  is  not  without 
merit.  To  the  palm  he  wrote : 

"Like  me,  thou  art  a  stranger, 
Far  from  thy  Mends : 
Thou  hast  grown  up  in  a  foreign  soil 
Far  from  the  land  of  thy  birth." 

But  his  poetic  instincts  did  not  stand  in  the  way  of  his 
prosaic  care  of  himself  and  his  throne.  He  kept  power  in 
his  own  hands,  and  required  all  officers  in  Spain  to  take 
their  orders  from  him,  and  to  obey  him  without  debate. 
To  execute  his  will  he  had  forty  thousand  Berbers  from 
Africa  enrolled  as  a  body-guard,  and  commanded  by  de- 
voted officers.  They  did  not  speak  the  language  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  hated  them.  It  was  to  them  a  joy  to  fall 
upon  Spanish  rebels  with  sword  and  lance,  and  to  strew 
the  field  with  their  corpses. 

Abderrahman  himself  was  the  hardest  worker  in  his  em- 
pire. He  seemed  to  require  neither  rest  nor  sleep.  He 
would  work  all  night  over  the  reports  of  his  officers  in 
the  provinces,  and  at  daybreak  he  would  be  found  on  his 
horse,  reviewing  his  troops  or  leading  them  to  battle. 

When  he  first  made  himself  master  of  Spain  he  required 
the  country  to  pay  him  ten  thousand  ounces  of  gold,  ten 
thousand  pounds  of  silver,  ten  thousand  horses,  ten  thou- 
sand mules,  and  one  thousand  cuirasses.  Before  him  the 
governors  of  Spain  had  been  called  emirs,  and  had  held 
their  authority  from  the  Caliph  at  Damascus.  He  now 
declared  that  he  was  the  true  Caliph,  and  the  head  of  the 
Moslem  Church,  having  the  blood  of  Mahomet  in  his  veins. 
And  the  Asiatic  Caliph,  who  was  in  power  at  this  time, 
removed  from  Damascus  to  Bagdad,  and  did  not  under- 
take to  dispute  his  assumption  with  arms. 


STREET  SCENE,  WITH  GOATS,   TOLEDO 


750-788]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  43 

But  if  the  successor  of  the  Butcher  let  Abderrahman 
alone,  his  subjects  in  Spain  were  not  disposed  to  be  so  sub- 
missive. They  were  perpetually  plotting  against  him,  and 
the  plots  did  not  cease,  though  the  Caliph  had  a  way  of 
crucifying  the  plotters  when  he  found  them  out.  In  the 


A  PATIO  IN  TOLEDO 


first  years  of  his  stay  at  Cordova  he  used  to  walk  the 
streets  alone  and  converse  in  a  friendly  way  with  any  one 
he  met.  In  his  later  years  he  never  appeared  without  a 
powerful  body-guard,  armed  to  the  teeth.  He  had  several 
thousand  soldiers  to  guard  his  palace  and  his  person,  and 


44  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [750-788 

not  one  of  them  was  a  Spaniard.      Woe  befell  any  one 
whom  he  thought  he  had  reason  to  suspect. 

In  his  way  he  was  pious.  He  would  offer  prayers  over 
the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  on  Fridays  he  would  get  into 
the  pulpit  of  the  mosque  and  preach  sermons.  Having 
left  the  mosque,  he  would  give  orders  for  the  execution  of 
prisoners  who  were  accused  of  disloyalty. 

Abderrahman  lived  to  be  fifty-three,  but  his  later  years 
were  years  of  misery.  A  tyrant  may  enforce  submission, 
but  he  cannot  command  friendship.  Everybody  —  rela- 
tions, friends,  comrades-in-arms,  and  even  servants — desert- 
ed him,  except  at  the  hours  when  duty  required  them  to 
attend  his  presence.  They  stood  before  him  in  silence, 
with  bowed  heads.  He  could  not  order  them  to  execution 
because  they  would  not 'talk  to  him,  and  yet  it  was  galling 
to  live  a  life  of  silence.  Not  one  single  person  loved  him. 
Every  one  looked  forward  eagerly  to  his  death,  and  he 
knew  it.  Of  the  women  who  had  laid  their  beautiful 
heads  on  his  breast  in  his  youth  not  one  remained;  they 
had  died,  I  suppose — perhaps  of  broken  hearts,  for  there 
was  not  a  ray  of  tenderness  in  him.  His  son,  who  was  an 
admirable  young  man,  rarely  saw  his  father,  and  could  not 
have  respected  him.  Not  even  one  of  those  whom  he  had 
raised  to  high  command  was  hypocrite  enough  to  feign  to 
like  him. 

This  desolate  old  man,  however,  founded  a  dynasty  which 
lasted  three  hundred,  and  an  empire  which  lasted  over  seven 
hundred  years.  The  race  of  which  he  was  the  leader  ruled 
Spain  for  a  period  equal  in  length  to  that  which  separates 
us  from  the  Crusades.  They  left  a  mark  on  that  country 
which  ignorance,  intolerance,  and  bigotry  have  been  una- 
ble to  efface;  and,  by  a  strange  fatality,  the  epoch  of  their 
expulsion  coincides  very  nearly  with  the  decline  and  fall 
of  Spanish  power  and  prosperity. 


CHAPTER  VII 

ABDERRAHMAN'S  SUCCESSORS 

A.D.  788-852 

ABDERRAHMAN  THE  FIRST  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Hisham,  who  reigned  eight  years,  and  he  by  his  son  Ha- 
cam,  who  reigned  twenty-six  years.  *r 

The  first  was  an  excellent  young  man,  who  ruled  his 
people  justly  and  established  schools  all  over  the  country. 
It  had  been  foretold  of  him  by  an  astrologer  that  he  would 
reign  eight  years,  and  no  more;  and  sure  enough,  in  the 
eighth  year  of  his  reign  he  died.  The  people  mourned 
him,  for  they  had  loved  him  as  much  as  they  had  hated 
his  father.  He  was  famous  for  kind  deeds;  constantly 
visited  the  sick,  sent  food  to  the  needy,  and  prayed  with 
the  devout  who  were  confined  to  their  houses  by  inclement 
weather  or  illness. 

His  son  Hacam  was  a  very  different  person.  He  loved 
nothing  so  much  as  pleasure — hunting,  wine-drinking,  gay- 
ety,  and  frolic.  He  counted  some  of  the  most  beautiful 
women  in  Spain  among  his  wives.  When  he  died  he  left 
forty  sons.  His  way  of  life  gave  offence  to  truly  relig- 
ious Moslems  —  the  students  of  the  college  at  Cordova, 
who  were  extremely  devout,  having  been  converted  from 
Christianity,  were  especially  incensed  at  the  loose  behav- 
ior of  the  head  of  the  Church.  It  may  give  you  some  idea 
of  the  singular  manners  of  the  time  to  hear  that  these  stu- 
dents followed  the  Caliph  in  the  streets,  jeering  him  and 
throwing  stones  at  him. 

Hacam  only  laughed  at  them;  but  when  they  concoct- 
ed a  plot  for  his  overthrow,  he  showed  that  he  was  of  the 
blood  of  Abderrahman.  He  swooped  down  upon  the  plot- 


46  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [788-852 

ters  at  the  head  of  his  Mamelukes,  caught  the  leaders,  and 
crucified  them.  Three  or  four  years  afterwards,  in  806, 
they  formed  another  plot,  and  the  plotters  met  the  same 
fate.  Then,  after  a  time,  the  nobles  of  Toledo  broke  out 
in  revolt,  and  declared  that  they  would  make  an  end  of 
Hacam,  as  they  had  made  an  end  of  so  many  emirs  before 
Abderrahman.  They  raised  quite  an  army,  and  prepared 
to  take  the  field  against  an  unworthy  follower  of  Ma- 
homet. 

Hacam  sent  his  young  son,  whose  name  was  Abe 
man,  like  his  grandfather,  and  who  was  only  fifteen  years 
old,  to  deal  with  the  rebels,  giving  him  private  instructions 
how  to  act.  The  boy  got  into  the  castle  of  Toledo— you 
can  still  see  the  ruins  of  its  walls— and  invited  the  nobles 
and  chief  people  of  the  place,  to  the  number  of  a  thousand 
or  more,  to  a  banquet,  at  which  he  proposed  to  discuss  with 
them  the  causes  of  their -discontent.  They  came,  and  were 
directed  to  walk  through  the  castle  ditch  round  the  main 
tower  of  the  banquet  hall.  They  were  so  numerous  and 
made  such  a  fine  show  that  a  crowd  collected  to  see  them 
enter  the  castle. 

After  a  time  the  on-lookers  were  surprised  that  the  ban- 
queters did  not  come  out  of  the  castle.  Some  one  said 
that  they  had  doubtless  gone  out  by  the  back  door. 

"Not  so,"  said  a  physician,  who  was  watching;  "I  have 
been  at  the  back  door  for  some  time,  and  no  one  has  gone 
out  that  way." 

Next  day  it  was  discovered  that  the  guests,  as  they 
walked  through  the  ditch  in  narrow  file,  had  been  struck 
down  by  Mamelukes  and  their  bodies  thrown  into  a  pit. 
The  date  of  the  massacre  was  long  remembered  in  Toledo 
by  the  name  of  the  Day  of  the  Foss.  It  kept  the  Tole- 
dans  quiet  for  many  a  long  year. 

Hacam's  last  years  were  spent  in  private.  You  will  read 
in  the  histories  that  he  was  as  melancholy  and  as  wretched 
as  his  grandfather.  But  I  notice  that  he  wrote  poetry,  and 
was  passionately  fond  of  music,  which  seems  to  imply  that 


THE  MOORISH   GATE,    SEVILLE 


788-852]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  49 

he  was  not  always  sad.  There  are  legends  that  he  gloried 
in  putting  people  to  death  in  order  to  exult  over  their  dy- 
ing agonies.  But  this  and  other  stories  were  probably 
started  by  fanatic  Moslems,  who  hated  him  because  he  was 
not  as  bigoted  as  they.  At  the  time  of  his  death  the  Moors 
of  Spain  had  got  over  the  liberal  toleration  with  which  they 
began  their  empire.  They  had  got  the  taste  of  persecu- 
tion into  their  mouths. 

The  students  of  the  college,  who  were  crazy  enthusiasts 
on  religion,  would  have  liked  to  crucify  him.  Once  they 
roused  the  mob  and  attacked  the  palace  with  fury.  Hacam, 
aroused  by  the  noise,  bade  his  page  perfume  his  hair  and 
beard  with  civet.  When  the  page  hesitated,  in  a  moment 
of  such  peril,  the  Caliph  cried  : 

"Proceed,  fellow!  How  shall  the  rebels  identify  my 
head  among  the  rest  except  by  its  sweet  odor  ?" 

Then  swiftly  sending  a  force  of  cavalry  by  a  round- 
about way  to  the  quarter  from  which  the  mob  had  come, 
he  ordered  the  houses  set  on  fire.  The  rioters  turning  to 
rescue  their  belongings  from  the  flames,  the  palace  gates 
were  opened  and  a  swarm  of  Mamelukes  poured  forth, 
while  the  cavalry  charged  them  under  cover  of  the  smoke. 
Thus  caught  between  two  foes  the  mob  was  crushed  with 
frightful  slaughter,  and,  by  way  of  a  lesson,  Hacam  burned 
down  that  part  of  the  city  in  which  they  lived,  and  exiled 
the  survivors  to  Africa.  The  students  he  spared.  One  of 
them,  who  was  brought  before  him,  was  asked  why  he  had 
rebelled  against  his  sovereign. 

"  Because  it  was  the  will  of  God,"  said  the  fanatic. 

"He  who  commands  thee  to  hate  me,"  said  Hacam, 
"  commands  me  to  pardon  thee.  Go  and  live." 

Hacam  was  succeeded  by  one  of  his  forty  sons,  Abder- 
rahman  the  Second.  He  came  to  the  throne  in  822,  and 
reigned  till  852.  Throughout  the  thirty  years  religious 
feuds  glowed  and  grew  hotter  and  hotter.  I  will  tell 
you  of  them  in  the  next. chapter.  The  king  did  not  take 
much  interest  in  them,  and  after  the  severe  lesson  his 
4 


50  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [788-852 

father  Hacam  had  given  the  fanatics,  they  did  not  fly  to 
arms  as  quickly  as  formerly. 

Abderrahman  spent  his  time  in  works  of  art  and  beauty. 
He  built  mosques  and  palaces  and  bridges ;  he  laid  out 
fine  gardens,  and  watered  them  by  means  of  aqueducts 
leading  from  mountain  springs.  His  court  was  splendid. 
He  gave  handsome  rewards  to  poets  and  musicians,  and 
gathered  the  brightest  of  them  round  him.  His  wife 
Tarub  is  the  first  Moorish  queen  who  figures  in  history. 
She  seems  to  have  been  a  woman  of  mind,  though  she  did 
love  necklaces  and  bags  of  silver,  and  was  not  particular 
how  she  got  them. 

Church  affairs  Abderrahman  left  to  a  bigoted  priest 
named  Tahya,  who  ruled  the  Moslems  with  a  rod  of  iron, 
and  punished  neglect  of  religious  duty  severely.  He  does 
not  seem  to  have  troubled  the  Christians  much  unless  they 
made  themselves  offensive  ;  but  whenever  a  Moslem  omit- 
ted his  daily  prayers  Tahya  made  an  example  of  him. 

Abderrahman's  best  friend  and  chief  associate  was  a 
Persian  named  Ziriab,  who  was  a  musician  and  a  singer. 
It  was  said  that  he  knew  a  thousand  songs  by  heart,  and 
the  king  was  so  fond  of  hearing  him  sing  them  that  he 
would  spend  all  day  by  Ziriab's  side,  would  share  his  meals 
with  him,  and  was  never  tired  of  giving  him  houses  and 
pensions  and  presents  of  value. 

Ziriab  was  more  than  a  musician ;  he  was  a  wit  and  a 
wise  observer  of  mankind.  He  gave  his  master  advice 
which  generally  proved  to  be  sound.  He  was  also  a  man 
of  taste,  and  he  undertook  to  reform  the  manners  of  the 
Moors.  He  set  new  fashions  in  dress,  and  taught  the 
Moorish  nobles  to  cut  their  hair.  He  persuaded  the  court 
to  cease  drinking  out  of  metal  cups,  and  to  use  glasses  in- 
stead. He  abolished  linen  table-cloths,  and  covered  din- 
ner tables  with  leather  cloths— which  does  not  give  me  a 
high  opinion  of  his  notions  of  cleanliness.  Linen  sheets  he 
declared  to  be  an  abomination,  and  advised  people  to  sleep 
on  leather  instead.  He  invented  fricassees  and  forcemeat; 


788-852]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  51 

he  introduced  asparagus  into  Spain.  He  did  not  rest  till 
he  had  changed  the  fashions  of  the  Moors  in  almost  all 
their  ways  of  living.  And  for  these  services  the  people 
admired  him  almost  as  much  as  the  king  did.  Though  he 
was  the  favorite,  he  did  not  inspire  envy  in  his  lifetime, 
and  I  think  you  can  remember  him  with  pleasure. 

Abderrahman's  thirty  years1  reign  was  a  period  of  peace 
and  comfort  for  the  Spaniards.  Taught  by  the  king's  ex- 
ample, the  nobles  in  many  places  irrigated  their  land  by 
bringing  water  to  it  in  leaden  pipes  from  great  distances, 
and  the  consequence  was  improved  harvests.  They  were 
stimulated  to  pursue  this  work  by  a  drought  which  occurred 
in  846,  and  which  of  course  was  followed  by  famine  and 
pestilence;  those  who  had  neglected  their  water  supply 
starved  in  great  numbers,  while  those  who  had  aqueducts 
reaped  the  usual  harvest. 

In  the  year  852 — the  memorable  year  when  the  Dan- 
ish or  Norman  sea  rovers  ravaged  the  coasts  of  England, 
France,  and  Germany,  and  captured  the  cities  they  could 
reach,  including  the  City  of  London — King  Abderrahman 
the  Second  ascended  to  the  terrace  of  his  palace  to  breathe 
the  evening  air.  His  eye  was  offended  by  a  row  of  Chris- 
tian corpses,  mutilated,  and  swinging  by  the  neck  to  a  gib- 
bet. He  ordered  them  cut  down  and  decently  buried,  and 
his  cheek  flushed  as  he  thought  of  the  bigotry  of  his  fellow- 
believers.  The  flush  rose  and  deepened  till  his  whole  face 
turned  purple.  He  staggered  and  fell,  and  when  the  phy- 
sicians came  they  declared  that  the  king  had  died  of  apo- 
plexy. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FLORA  AND  MARY 

A.D.  840-859 

WHILE  Abderrahman  the  Second  was  Moorish  King  or 
Sultan — as  the  king  was  sometimes  called — of  Spain,  there 
was  born  to  an  honest  Moorish  mechanic  a  daughter,  whom 
he  named  Flora.  Though  her  father  was  a  Moslem,  her 
mother  was  a  Christian.  Now  the  Moorish  law  was  that 
children  of  Moors  must  be  brought  up  in  the  Moorish  faith; 
but  in  secret  Flora's  mother  brought  her  up  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian. 

At  that  time  Moors  and  Christians  were  living  peaceably 
side  by  side.  Moslemism  was  the  religion  of  the  country, 
but  the  Christians  were  not  persecuted  ;  they  had  their 
churches,  their  bishops,  and  their  priests  ;  nobody  troubled 
them  about  their  religion  as  long  as  they  were  decently 
respectful  to  the  Moslem  faith  ;  but  it  chanced  at  that  par- 
ticular time  that  a  wave  of  religious  enthusiasm  swept  over 
Spain.  In  the  gloom  of  their  cloisters,  monks  let  their 
minds  dwell  upon  the  history  of  the  early  martyrs  until 
their  heads  were  turned,  and  they  could  think  of  nothing 
but  the  joy  of  giving  up  one's  life  for  religion's  sake. 
They  recalled  the  past  glories  of  their  Church,  and  they 
groaned  in  spirit  when  they  remembered  that  it  had  been 
overthrown  by  infidels. 

Such  a  one  was  Eulogius,  who  had  spent  years  in  fasting 
and  prayer,  till  he  had  destroyed  his  constitution  and  up- 
set his  mind.  Such  another  was  Perfectus,  who  had  work- 
ed himself  up  to  such  a  pitch  of  frenzy  that  he  went 
through  the  streets  cursing  Mahomet,  and  was  duly  ar- 
rested and  executed  for  blasphemy,  according  to  the  Moor- 


840-859]  A   CHILD'S   HISTORY   OF   SPAIN  53 

ish  law.  Another  such  was  a  monk  named  Isaac,  who 
went  into  court,  reviled  Mahomet  in  the  presence  of  the 
cadi,  or  judge,  was  taken  out  and  beheaded;  whereupon 
the  Christian  Church  enrolled  him  in  the  list  of  saints,  to- 
gether with  others  who  proved  their  saintliness  by  insult- 
ing the  faith  of  their  fellow-countrymen. 

Flora,  who  was  a  fanciful,  high-strung  girl,  caught  the 
exaltation  of  the  priests  and  fled  from  her  home,  saying 
that  she  was  a  Christian.  Her  brother  was  a  quiet  Mos- 
lem; he  was  hurt  at  her  conduct,  brought  her  back,  and 
reasoned  with  her  ;  but  as  she  would  listen  to  nothing,  he 
took  her  before  the  judge.  According  to  the  Moorish  law 
she  had  forfeited  her  life  by  abandoning  the  faith  of  her 
father;  but  the  judge  shrank  from  sentencing  one  so 
young  and  so  beautiful;  he  ordered  that  she  be  whipped, 
and  he  enjoined  her  brother  to  take  better  care  of  her 
thereafter.  His  back  was  no  sooner  turned  than  she  ran 
away  again,  and  this  time  hid  herself  with  a  Christian  fam- 
ily, where  she  met  Eulogius,  the  man  who  had  prayed  and 
fasted  so  long.  He  fell  in  love  with  her,  and  her  Christian 
friends  had  to  hide  her  from  him  as  well  as  from  the  Moors. 

By  this  time  the  religious  enthusiasm  had  become  a 
craze.  Eulogius  made  a  convert  of  one  of  the  sultan's 
guards,  who,  to  show  his  zeal,  reviled  Mahomet  before  his 
regiment.  When  he  was  taken  out  and  beheaded  six 
monks  rushed  to  the  court  where  the  judge  was  sitting 
and  roared  at  him: 

"  The  guardsman  was  right !  Now  avenge  your  accursed 
prophet !  Here  we  are,  ready  to  die !" 

They  were  promptly  accommodated ;  and  three  more 
monks,  who  insisted  on  being  beheaded,  shared  their  fate. 
It  looked  as  though  the  Christians  had  gone  mad.  I  do 
not  know  what  would  have  happened  if  the  bishops  had 
not  called  a  halt,  and  proclaimed  that  suicide  was  not  the 
road  to  heaven.  Each  bishop  in  his  diocese  preached 
against  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  the  enthusiasts,  and  for 
a  time  the  mania  was  checked. 


54  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [840-859 

But  the  mad  priest  Eulogius  raved  more  loudly  than 
ever,  and  confounded  the  bishops  with  extracts  from  the 
lives  of  the  saints.  He  bawled  and  bellowed  so  furious- 
ly that  the  Moorish  judge,  not  wishing  to  execute  him 
if  it  could  be  avoided,  locked  him  up  in  jail  to  stop  his 
tongue.  There  he  met  Flora  again,  and  with  her  another 
young  and  beautiful  girl  named  Mary.  Both  of  them  had 
been  imprisoned  by  the  judge,  who  wanted  to  evade  the 
duty  of  putting  them  to  death.  In  the  solitude  of  her  cell 
Flora  had  had  time  to  think,  and  she  had  seen  the  folly  of 
insulting  the  faith  which  her  father  had  professed  and  to 
which  her  brother  belonged.  She  was  ready,  when  her 
release  came,  to  behave  quietly,  as  became  a  young  girl, 
and  to  keep  her  religious  opinions  to  herself. 

When  the  wild  fanatic  Eulogius  met  her,  her  good  reso- 
lutions were  quickly  scattered  to  the  winds.  He  over- 
whelmed her  with  his  frantic  fury.  He  besought  her  by 
the  love  he  bore  her  not  to  let  the  opportunity  of  martyr- 
dom escape.  He  entreated  of  her  to  show  her  true  Chris- 
tian spirit  by  reviling  the  Moors  and  their  prophet.  And 
the  weak  girl,  probably  loving  him  as  he  loved  her,  and 
believing  him  to  be  her  best  friend  and  adviser,  did  as  he 
bade  her.  She  and  Mary  went  before  the  cadi  and  cursed 
Mahomet;  whereupon  the  judge,  whose  patience  was  worn 
out,  ordered  them  to  execution ;  and  their  heads  were  sev- 
ered from  their  bodies  on  November  24th,  851. 

When  she  told  Eulogius  that  he  had  convinced  her,  and 
that  she  was  ready  for  martyrdom,  he  exulted  and  said  : 

"I  sought  to  confirm  her  in  her  resolution  by  showing 
her  the  crown  of  glory.  I  worshipped  her;  I  fell  down 
before  this  angel,  and  besought  her  to  remember  me;  then 
I  returned  less  sad  to  my  sombre  cell." 

When  the  Moors  turned  this  maniac  priest  out  of  his 
sombre  cell,  the  Christians  of  Toledo  chose  him  to  be  their 
bishop.  He  had  not  been  long  preaching  when  another 
beautiful  girl  was  missing.  She  also  was  traced  to  Eulo- 
gius, who  was  training  her  for  the  glory  of  martyrdom. 


840-859]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  55 

They  were  both  arrested  and  taken  before  the  judge.  Eulo- 
gius, who  had  quite  lost  his  head,  burst  forth  with  a  storm 
of  curses  against  Mahomet.  Whereupon  the  judge  sen- 
tenced him  to  die,  as  the  law  required ;  but  before  his  exe- 
cution a  friend  of  the  Sultan  tried  to  save  him,  offering  to 
get  him  a  pardon  if  he  would  withdraw  what  he  had  said 
before  the  cadi.  He  stoutly  refused,  declaring  that  he  had 
nothing  to  recant.  Whereupon  his  head  was  struck  off, 
eight  years  after  Flora,  by  his  persuasion,  had  voluntarily 
given  up  her  life. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  Eulogius  was  honest.  But  it  is  not 
enough  to  be  honest,  if  the  honesty  be  displayed  in  a  way 
that  will  injure  others.  A  blind  teacher  cannot  escape 
blame  for  his  teaching  on  the  ground  that  his  motives  were 
pure.  In  the  coming  chapters  of  this  history  you  will 
often  be  shocked  by  tales  of  religious  persecution ;  I  sus- 
pect that  the  fashion  was  set  by  the  yearnings  of  Eulogius 
and  his  brethren  for  martyrdom. 


CHAPTER  IX 

ABDERRAHMAN  THE  THIRD 

A.D.  850-961 

THE  second  Abderrahman  died  before  Eulogius,  leaving 
Spain  in  disorder,  through  his  weakness  as  a  ruler.  He 
was  followed  by  his  son  Mohammed ;  he  by  his  son  Mund- 
hir,  who  was  assassinated;  and  he  by  his  brother  Abdallah, 
who  reigned  twenty -four  years,  and  died  in  912. 

During  all  these  reigns  the  power  of  the  Caliph  was 
gradually  dissolving.  Almost  all  Andalusia  had  risen  in 
revolt  and  driven  out  the  Caliph's  officers.  Seville  declared 
its  independence.  Saragossa  defied  the  Caliph.  Jaen  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Berbers.  Granada  was  seized  by  Chris- 
tians, who  challenged  the  Moors  to  attack  them.  Toledo 
was  up  in  arms  again.  All  Murcia,  Estremadura,  Algarvc, 
had  thrown  off  the  Moorish  yoke.  In  the  whole  of  the 
empire  which  had  been  ruled  from  Cordova,  that  city 
alone  obeyed  the  orders  of  the  Caliph,  and  there  poverty 
reigned  by  his  side.  There  was  no  money  to  pay  troops, 
and  the  people  had  none  to  buy  bread.  Meanwhile  the  new 
chiefs  of  cities  and  provinces  made  incessant  war  on  each 
other,  and  quite  often  raided  the  suburbs  of  Cordova. 
Matters  were  in  this  shocking  condition  when  Abdallah 
died,  and  his  throne  fell  to  his  grandson,  Abderrahman  the 
Third,  a  boy  of  twenty-one. 

Young  as  he  was,  he  was  full  of  vigor.  He  called  upon 
the  rebels  against  his  authority  to  lay  down  their  arms, 
marched  against  those  who  hesitated,  and  beat  them  in  the 
field.  Town  after  town,  district  after  district  submitted. 
They  had  tried  rebellion  for  fifty  years,  and  as  its  chief  re- 
sult had  been  to  hand  over  their  vineyards  and  orchards 


850-961]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  57 

and  wheat-fields  to  bands  of  robbers,  who  destroyed  more 
than  they  consumed,  they  concluded  it  did  not  pay.  Even 
the  Christians  of  Granada  felt  that  no  caliph  could  be 
as  bad  as  the  bandit  chiefs,  who,  whenever  their  purses  or 
their  larders  were  empty,  raided  the  nearest  town  for  fresh 
supplies.  The  last  place  to  submit  was  Toledo,  which 
the  young  caliph  beleaguered  and  starved  into  surrender. 
Then  Abderrahman  returned  to  Cordova,  prepared  to 
reign  in  peace.  It  had  taken  him  eighteen  years  to  put 
the  rebels  down. 

But  he  had  other  enemies  on  his  hands  whom  he  could 
not  put  down;  these  were  the  Christians  of  the  North. 
Portions  of  the  slopes  of  the  Cantabrians,  in  Galicia,  the 
Asturias,  Leon,  Old  Castile,  and  Navarre  had  never  been 
conquered  outright  by  the  Moors;  here  and  there  bands  of 
Christians,  feeding  flocks  in  the  mountains,  had  never  sur- 
rendered their  independence,  and  fought  the  Moors  when- 
ever they  could  get  at  them.  They  were  rude  and  rough; 
they  could  neither  read  nor  write;  they  gave  no  quarter 
in  battle;  but  their  courage  was  dauntless,  and  their  per- 
severance inexhaustible. 

One  of  these  barbarians,  whose  name  was  Pelayo,  shut 
himself  up  in  the  cleft  of  a  steep  mountain  in  the  Asturias, 
and  defied  the  Moors  to  take  him.  He  had  thirty  men  and 
ten  women  all  told ;  they  lived  in  a  cave  in  the  cleft,  which 
could  only  be  reached  by  a  ladder  of  ninety  steps.  A 
Moorish  general  said: 

"  What  are  thirty  barbarians  perched  on  a  rock  ?  They 
must  inevitably  die." 

They  did  die,  of  course,  as  all  men  must;  but  before  they 
died  they  gathered  round  them  armies  of  Christians  from 
the  rocky  steeps  of  Northern  Spain,  poured  down  under 
old  Pelayo  into  the  valleys  of  Castile,  and  when  they  met 
the  Moors  in  battle  the  Crescent  was  often  routed  and  the 
Cross  victorious.  The  war  began  before  Abderrahman  had 
been  two  years  on  his  throne.  It  lasted,  with  some  inter- 
vals of  peace,  till  a  few  years  before  his  death.  It  was  a 


58  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [850-961 

shocking  and  a  cruel  war.  After  some  years  of  fighting — 
neither  side  asked  nor  gave  quarter — and  after  each  battle 
women  and  children  were  sold  into  slavery,  simply  on  the 
ground  of  their  religion.  The  generals  who  began  the 
fifty  years'  fighting  on  both  sides  died  in  the  course  of 
nature;  but  other  generals  took  their  place,  and  the  war 
went  on.  The  net  result  was  that  before  Abderrahman's 
death  the  Christians  were  masters  of  all  Northern  Spain, 
and  had  pushed  the  Moors  south  of  the  Guadarrama  Mount- 
ains. The  valleys  of  the  Douro  and  of  the  upper  Ebro,  as 
well  as  the  cities  of  Zamorra,  Salamanca,  Segovia,  Tara- 
zona,  and  Tudela  were  in  their  hands,  and  the  great  work 
of  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  had  begun. 

I  must  now  tell  you  something  of  the  city  of  Cordova 
in  the  time  of  Abderrahman  the  Third.  It  was  a  fine  city 
under  Abderrahman  the  First.  But  it  was  the  third  caliph 
of  the  name  who  made  it  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world. 
According  to  the  ancient  historians,  it  stretched  ten  miles 
along  the  river  Guadalquiver,  and  for  this  distance  the 
banks  were  lined  with  houses  of  white  marble,  mosques, 
and  gardens,  in  which  Eastern  trees  and  plants  grew  lux- 
uriantly, watered  by  irrigating  ditches. 

It  is  now  a  dead  town,  with  about  fifty  thousand  people 
in  it,  most  of  whom  are  poor  and  ignorant ;  it  is  the  chief 
city  of  a  miserable  district.  Then  it  was  surrounded  by  a 
strong  wall,  on  which  square  or  octagonal  towers  rose  at 
intervals;  parts  of  the  wall  still  endure,  and  you  can  over- 
look the  country  from  the  turf  on  their  top.  A  thousand 
years  ago,  we  are  told,  from  the  summit  of  these  towers 
twelve  thousand  towns  or  villages  could  be  counted  in  the 
valley  of  the  Guadalquivir. 

At  that  time  the  Arab  writers  say  that  Cordova  con- 
tained a  million  people,  two  hundred  thousand  houses,  six 
hundred  mosques,  nine  hundred  public  baths,  many  thou- 
sand palaces  of  the  nobility,  and  a  number  of  royal  palaces 
with  poetic  names,  such  as  the  Palace  of  Flowers,  the  Pal- 
ace of  Lovers,  the  Palace  of  Contentment.  These  palaces 


RESTORATION   OF   THE   MOSQUE   AT   COUDOVA 


850-961]  A  CHILD'S  HISTOKY  OF  SPAIN  61 

opened  on  gardens  in  front,  and  on  the  river  in  the  rear; 
carpeted  passages  hung  with  jewelled  lamps  connected 
them  with  mosques,  in  which  the  Sultan  and  his  family 
paid  their  devotions  to  God.  The  ceilings  were  supported 
by  pillars  of  many- colored  marble  and  porphyry,  and  the 
floors  were  mosaic. 

The  great  mosque  of  Cordova,  which  devout  Moslems 
from  all  parts  of  Asia  and  Africa  came  to  pray  in,  was 
probably  the  grandest  religious  temple  in  the  world.  Its 
roof  was  light  and  elegant,  and  was  supported  by  a  forest 
of  pillars  of  different  colors.  There  were  over  twelve  hun- 
dred of  them,  each  with  silver  lamps  kept  constantly  burn- 
ing, and  some  with  jewelled  cornices.  When  the  Catholics 
took  possession  of  Cordova  they  pulled  down  many  of  the 
pillars  and  stripped  the  others  of  their  lamps  and  orna- 
ments. But  enough  remains  to  show  what  it  was. 

The  finest  of  the  palaces  was  built  in  honor  of  the  Ca- 
liph's pet  wife,  Ez-Zabra.  The  Arab  writers  say  that  Ab- 
derrahman  kept  ten  thousand  men  and  four  thousand 
horses  working  on  the  building  for  twenty-five  years.  It 
contained  fifteen  thousand  doors  of  brass  or  iron.  In  the 
centre  of  the  Caliph's  Hall  was  a  lake  of  quicksilver,  which 
was  set  in  motion  by  a  spring.  When  it  moved  it  flashed 
rays  of  light  like  lightning,  and  dazzled  the  eye.  To  wait 
upon  the  queen  in  this  palace  we  are  told  that  there  were 
thirteen  thousand  male  servants  and  six  thousand  females. 
The  terraces  and  halls  and  pavilions  and  flower-gardens 
were  past  numbering.  Into  one  fish-pond  it  is  said  that 
twelve  thousand  loaves  of  bread  were  flung  daily  to  feed 
the  fish.  In  the  main  court-room  stood  a  throne  glitter- 
ing with  gold  and  gems.  On  the  mosaic  floors  were  Per- 
sian rugs,  and  silken  portieres  veiled  the  bronze  doors.  I 
am  not  sure  that  you  can  believe  all  these  stories;  but  how- 
ever this  may  be,  you  may  feel  sure  that  Cordova  was  the 
centre  of  art,  science,  and  industry.  It  contained  doctors 
who  understood  anatomy  and  medical  science,  astronomers 
who  knew  all  that  was  known  of  the  skies  before  Galileo 


62  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [850-961 

and  Kepler,  learned  botanists,  profound  philosophers,  ex- 
quisite poets.  Some  of  the  poetry  of  the  Cordova  bards  is 
delightful.  In  architecture  and  bronze  work  the  Cordo- 
vans of  the  tenth  century  have  not  been  surpassed  to  this 
day. 

The  working-men  of  Cordova  were  expert  silk -weavers 
and  skilled  potters.  They  carved  admirably  on  silver  and 
bronze.  They  made  a  steel  which  was  not  surpassed  at 
Toledo.  In  some  of  the  museums  in  Europe  you  will  see 
marvellous  sword-hilts  made  at  Cordova  at  a  time  when 
our  ancestors  fought  with  stone  hatchets. 

These  various  attractions  drew  travellers  to  Cordova 
from  every  part  of  the  world.  We  hear  of  an  ambassador 
who  was  taken  by  the  Caliph  to  see  the  Ez-Zabra  palace, 
and  who  fainted  at  the  sight  of  such  an  accumulation  of 
splendors.  The  great  college  was  thronged  with  students 
from  every  country  in  Europe ;  they  found  professors 
there  who  could  address  each  of  them  in  his  own  language. 
It  was  indeed  the  only  place  in  Europe  where  a  seeker 
after  knowledge  could  obtain  a  good  education. 

Its  glories  did  not  last  long.  Fifty  years  after  the  death 
of  Abderrahman  the  Third  an  army  of  Castilians  and 
Berbers  stormed  Cordova,  and  pillaged  it  for  several  days. 
Thousands  of  magnificent  buildings  were  burned,  among 
others  the  palace  of  Ez-Zabra,  which  was  thoroughly 
robbed  before  it  was  fired.  Nothing  was  destroyed  by  the 
flames  except  that  which  could  not  be  carried  away.  So 
one  generation  undid  the  work  of  a  preceding  generation, 
and  after  a  century  or  more  knowledge  and  civilization 
found  themselves  just  where  they  had  been  at  the  begin- 
ning. 

If  you  wonder,  as  perhaps  you  may,  at  a  nation  which 
had  made  such  progress  in  art  and  science  being  as  bigot- 
ed in  matters  of  religion  as  both  Moors  and  Christians  were 
in  the  time  of  Abderrahman  the  Third,  you  must  remember 
that,  in  the  country  of  your  forefathers,  in  the  very  year 
that  the  Caliph  was  putting  Christians  to  death  in  North- 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  ALCAZAR,  CORDOVA 


850-961]  A  CHILD'S  HISTOEY  OF  SPAIN  65 

ern  Spain,  an  English  priest  dragged  a  young  king  from 
the  altar  at  which  he  was  being  married  to  the  lady  of  his 
love,  and  that  this  same  lady,  who  was  virtuous  and  beau- 
tiful, was  shortly  afterwards  murdered  by  the  order  of  an 
archbishop.  The  bigotry,  you  see,  was  not  in  the  race, 
but  in  the  times. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  GREAT  VIZIER 

A.D.  961-1002 

ABDERRAHMAIST  THE  THIRD  was  succeeded  as  Caliph  by 
his  son  Hacam,  who  was  a  scholar.  He  reigned  fifteen 
years,  but  these  years  he  devoted  to  study  to  the  neglect 
of  his  empire  ;  thus,  though  he  collected  a  library  of  four, 
or,  as  some  say,  six  hundred  thousand  manuscripts,  at  a  time 
when  other  libraries  were  thought  rich  with  five  hundred; 
and  though  he  established  schools  everywhere,  so  that 
every  Andalusian  could  read  and  write,  he  was  not  a  suc- 
cessful ruler.  At  his  death  his  son,  Hisham  the  Second,  a 
boy  of  twelve,  became  caliph  ;  and  the  real  power  passed 
into  the  hands  of  his  mother,  Aurora,  and  an  exceedingly 
able  minister  of  hers,  who  is  known  in  history  as  Almanzor. 

This  was  the  son  of  a  Cordova  lawyer.  He  had  studied 
at  the  college,  and  on  graduating  became  a  letter-writer 
for  the  court.  Sultana  Aurora  took  a  fancy  to  him,  and 
through  her  favor  and  his  own  address  he  rose  from  post 
to  post  until,  at  the  age  of  thirty  two  or  three,  he  was  pre- 
fect of  Cordova  and  general  in  the  army.  He  had  had  no 
training  in  arms,  but  luck  favored  him,  and  he  conducted 
two  successful  campaigns  against  the  Christians  of  the 
North.  On  his  return  he  was  so  strict  in  enforcing  the  law 
as  prefect  that  when  his  own  son  committed  a  crime  the 
stern  father  had  him  beaten  to  death  with  rods.  It  did 
not  take  him  long  to  convince  the  Caliph  that  he  would 
be  far  happier  among  the  ladies  of  the  harem  than  at  the 
Council  Board;  and  then  Almanzor  became  ruler  of  Spain. 

He  was  the  most  vigorous  and  unscrupulous  ruler  that 
country  had  had  for  many,  many  years.  Those  who  stood 


THE  ARCH  OF  ST.  MARY  AT  BURGOS 


961-1002]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  69 

in  his  way  mysteriously  died.  He  made  himself  friends 
with  the  high-church  party  by  burning  books  which  in  the 
smallest  degree  questioned  the  Moslem  faith.  He  kept 
the  working-class  quiet  by  giving  them  employment  on 
new  buildings.  He  endeared  himself  to  the  army  by  giv- 
ing them  full  license  to  plunder  the  enemy;  thus  he  always 
had  full  ranks,  and  many  Christians  served  under  his  flag. 
He  became  popular  with  the  people  by  winning  victories 
and  extending  the  empire.  He  conquered  a  large  piece  of 
Northern  Africa,  and  during  his  time  the  Christians  of 
Northern  Spain  were  pushed  back  again  towards  the  Can- 
tabrians  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay. 

Twice  a  year,  spring  and  fall,  he  made  war  on  the  Chris- 
tians. He  took  Leon,  and  pulled  down  its  walls  and  towers. 
He  captured  Barcelona.  He  defeated  the  Christians  at 
Castile  and  Navarre.  He  even  seized  Santiago  in  Galicia, 
where  the  famous  shrine  of  St.  James  of  Compostella  was. 
When  his  army  reached  the  shrine  they  found  the  church 
empty.  Only  a  single  monk  was  seen,  kneeling. 

"  What  dost  thou  here  ?"  said  a  Moorish  officer. 

"  I  pray,"  said  the  old  monk. 

And  they  spared  him. 

His  soldiers  had  absolute  trust  in  him.  At  a  battle  they 
were  driven  back,  with  the  Christians  at  their  heels ;  Al- 
manzor  leaped  from  the  high  seat  he  had  occupied,  and 
bending  head  to  earth,  covered  his  hair  with  dust,  in  token 
of  shame  and  sorrow;  at  which  sight  the  troops  turned  on 
the  enemy,  attacked  them  furiously,  and  routed  them. 

Another  time  the  Christians  cut  off  his  retreat,  and 
made  sure  of  his  surrender.  He  coolly  collected  lumber 
and  farm  tools,  built  houses,  and  began  to  plant  seeds. 
When  the  Christians  inquired  what  this  meant,  he  told 
them  that  he  intended  to  stay  where  he  was,  and  to  in- 
trench, as  the  next  campaign  would  begin  in  a  few  weeks. 
Upon  which  the  men  of  the  North,  not  being  minded  to 
encourage  so  uncongenial  a  neighbor,  made  haste  to  open 
the  way  for  his  retreat  south. 


70  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [961-1002 

The  Christians  learned  to  fear  him.  In  the  Kingdom  of 
Navarre  was  a  Moslem  woman  who  was  kept  a  prisoner. 
Almanzor  sent  word  to  the  king  that  she  must  be  given 
up,  and  instantly.  The  king  did  not  lose  a  day  in  setting 
her  free,  with  many  apologies. 

Almanzor  was  a  man  of  iron  nerve.  When  he  was 
sitting  at  the  council  -  chamber  one  day  the  councillors 
noticed  the  smell  of  burning  flesh,  and  looked  round  in- 
quiringly. 

"It  is  nothing,"  said  Almanzor;  "my  surgeon" — point- 
ing to  a  man  kneeling  at  his  feet — "is  cauterizing  my  leg 
with  a  red-hot  iron." 

If  Almanzor  had  lived,  and  had  been  succeeded  by  men 
of  his  fibre,  I  am  afraid  that  the  Christians  would  have 
found  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  more  difficult  than  they 
did.  He  was  a  born  soldier,  and  a  statesman  of  genius ; 
but  such  men  do  not  often  bequeath  their  qualities  to  their 
successors. 

A  day  came  when  Almanzor  was  taken  ill  on  one  of  his 
campaigns  and  died.  A  monk,  who  wrote  the  history  of 
these  times,  disposed  of  the  event  in  few  words.  He  wrote: 
"In  1002,  Almanzor  died,  and  was  buried  in  hell." 

At  his  death  a  son  of  his  took  the  title  of  Vizier,  and 
tried  to  rule;  then  another  son  tried,  in  his  turn,  with  no  bet- 
ter success.  The  people,  dreading  the  old  troubles  which 
racked  Spain  before  Abderrahman  the  Third,  dragged  the 
Caliph  Hisham  out  of  his  harem  and  insisted  that  he  should 
exert  his  authority.  He  was  no  longer  young,  and  had 
been  living  thirty  years  among  women  and  eunuchs.  He 
entreated  them  to  let  him  alone,  protesting  that  he  knew 
nothing  about  government,  and  only  wanted  to  lead  a  quiet 
life  with  his  ladies  and  his  books  and  his  music.  I  am 
afraid  that  the  poor  old  creature  was  roughly  handled  by 
some  of  his  Moorish  friends,  who  thought  that  vigorous 
measures  might  restore  his  energy;  but  it  was  all  to  no 
purpose.  The  caliph  was  like  a  baby. 

He  was  allowed  to  return  to  his  harem,  where  he  remained 


961-1002]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  71 

several  years,  while  caliph  succeeded  caliph,  and  each  was 
murdered  in  turn.  One  of  them,  whose  name  was  also 
Hisham,  had  a  very  sad  fate.  He  was  dragged  from  his 
throne  by  the  guards  and  thrust  into  a  dark  dungeon  under 
the  mosque,  with  his  wives  and  his  only  child.  Sometimes 
the  jailers  forgot  to  bring  him  food.  When  the  council  of 
the  chiefs  had  decided  what  was  to  be  done  with  him,  their 
messenger  found  him  clasping  his  little  child  to  his  breast, 
with  his  wives  all  in  rags  and  shivering  with  cold  standing 
round  him.  At  sight  of  the  jailers  he  begged  piteously  for 
bread.  Food  was  brought,  and  he  was  told  that  he  was  to 
be  removed  to  a  fortress  in  the  mountains.  He  made  no 
objection.  "But  I  hope,"  he  said,  "that  there  will  be  a 
window,  or  at  least  a  candle,  in  the  prison.  It  is  dreadful 
to  be  in  the  dark." 

After  many  changes  the  people  of  Cordova  remembered 
old  Hisham  the  Second,  and  they  pulled  him  out  of  his 
harem  and  told  him  he  must  be  caliph  once  more.  But  the 
old  man's  mind  was  quite  gone;  he  could  only  laugh  in 
a  half-witted  way,  and  say  he  would  do  whatever  they 
wanted.  So  they  locked  him  up  in  a  prison,  and  whether 
he  died  there  or  escaped,  as  one  story  says,  and  lived  out 
his  life  in  some  friend's  house,  I  do  not  know. 

The  Empire  of  Cordova  ended  with  Abderrahman  the 
Third  and  Almanzor.  After  them  no  Moor  could  control 
the  quarrelsome  chiefs,  and  the  history  of  Spain  for  nearly 
five  hundred  years  is  an  endless  story  of  war. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  CHRISTIANS  OF  NORTHERN  SPAIN 
A.D.  740-1065 

IT  is  time  that  I  should  tell  you  something  about  the 
Christians  who  lived  in  Northern  Spain  and  made  unend- 
ing war  upon  the  Moors. 

If  you  look  at  the  map  of  Spain,  you  will  see  that  the 
northern  part  is  divided  into  five  provinces,  thus  following 
each  other  from  west  to  east — Galicia,  Asturias,  the  Basque 
country,  Navarre,  and  Catalonia — and  that  south  of  these 
the  two  provinces  of  Leon  and  Old  Castile  dovetail  into 
them  and  are  geographically  part  of  them.  This  part  of 
Spain  is  much  broken  by  mountain  ranges,  and  is  cold  and 
windy.  It  is  not  barren,  for  it  grows  wheat,  barley,  and 
flax  in  abundance,  and  on  the  mountain  slopes  the  cork- 
tree flourishes.  But  the  climate  is  harsher  than*  in  the  val- 
leys of  the  South,  where  the  vine  and  the  orange  and  the 
lemon  and  the  fig  luxuriate  in  an  almost  perpetual  summer. 

The  Moors  were  never  able  to  conquer  this  northern 
country.  They  made  raids  into  it,  fought  battles,  won 
victories,  and  built  forts;  but  after  the  victories  were  won 
the  natives  were  ready  to  fight  again  next  year;  and  when 
the  forts  were  finished  they  were  often  taken  by  the  races 
against  which  they  had  been  built.  These  native  races 
were  Christians,  of  a  mixed  Gothic  and  Spanish  stock;  with 
them  were  allied  some  Berbers,  whom  the  Moors  of  Arab 
race  had  driven  into  Galicia  from  the  fertile  valleys  of 
Andalusia,  and  who  professed  to  be  Christians,  though 
at  that  time  I  do  not  think  their  Christianity  was  very 
deep. 

You  remember  old  Pelayo,  who  with  thirty  men  and  ten 


740-1065]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  73 

women  took  refuge  in  a  cave  in  a  cleft  of  the  Asturian 
Mountains  and  defied  the  Moors.  When  this  old  warrior 
had  driven  the  Moors  out  of  his  province  he  took  the  name 
of  King  of  the  Asturias,  and  the  people  round  about  agreed 
to  accept  him  as  their  king.  When  he  died  his  son  became 
king  after  him,  and  reigned  until  a  bear  ate  him.  After 
him  his  son,  who  was  named  Alfonso  the  First,  succeeded 
to  the  throne,  and,  being  a  famous  warrior,  extended  his 
kingdom  from  Galicia  to  the  borders  of  Navarre.  This 
was  about  the  year  750,  just  at  the  time  when  your  ances- 
tors in  England  were  first  enabled  to  read  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  Ten  Commandments,  and  the  Creed  in  their  own  lan- 
guage. 

It  was  in  the  time  of  one  of  Pelayo's  immediate  succes- 
sors that  Bernardo,  the  champion  of  Spain,  and  one  of  the 
heroes  of  the  Spanish  legends,  is  said  to  have  lived.  He 
was  the  son  of  Sancho  Diaz,  Count  of  Saldaiia;  this  count 
the  king,  from  jealousy,  had  imprisoned  and  most  cruelly 
maltreated.  Bernardo,  being  unable  to  bear  the  tyranny 
of  the  king  and  the  sight  of  his  father's  misery,  fled  to  the 
woods,  and  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  outlaws  barricaded 
himself  in  a  castle.  The  king  besieged  him  there;  but  be- 
ing unable  to  make  a  breach  in  the  walls,  he  bethought 
himself  of  offering  to  Bernardo  to  set  Don  Sancho  free  if 
the  castle  were  surrendered.  The  offer  was  accepted.  The 
treacherous  king  forthwith  had  Sancho  done  to  death  in 
the  prison.  Bernardo  came  out  of  his  castle,  and  cried: 

"  Where  is  my  father,  the  Count  of  Saldana?" 

"There  he  comes,"  said  the  king;  and  sure  enough,  in 
the  distance  a  horse  ridden  by  a  knight  in  Don  Sancho's 
armor  was  seen  approaching. 

Bernardo  ran  forward  to  seize  his  hand  to  kiss  it;  but 
the  hand  was  cold,  and  the  son  perceived  that  his  father 
was  dead. 

"  What  have  I  done  ?"  cried  he  ;  "  Don  Sancho,  in  an 
evil  hour  didst  thou  beget  me  !" 

For  nearly  a  hundred  years  after  that  other  kings  reigned 


74  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  [740-1065 

over  the  Asturias.  Sometimes  their  dominions  were 
large,  and  sometimes  they  were  small;  but  whether  they 
were  large  or  small,  the  Asturians  were  always  fighting, 
both  with  Moors  and  with  their  Christian  neighbors. 
They  must  have  been  unpleasant  fellows  to  live  near. 

About  the  year  942  there  was  a  king  named  Ramiro, 
who  was  fierce  and  bold.  He  burned  witches,  and  put  out 
the  eyes  of  robbers;  but  he  swept  the  Moors  out  of  his 
country,  reclaimed  the  fields  they  had  laid  desert,  rebuilt 
the  churches  they  had  pulled  down,  mended  the  forts  they 
had  wrecked.  The  old  legend  says  of  him  : 

"A  cry  went  through  the  mountains 

When  the  proud  Moor  drew  near, 
And  trooping  to  Ramiro 

Came  every  Christian  spear; 
The  blessed  San  lago — 

They  called  upon  his  name  : 
That  day  began  our  freedom, 

And  wiped  away  our  shame." 

He  was  king  when  the  Moorish  caliph  demanded  the 
payment  of  a  tribute  which  the  Christians  had  once,  after 
a  defeat,  agreed  to  pay  to  Cordova.  The  tribute  consisted 
of  one  hundred  Christian  maidens,  the  fairest  of  the  As- 
turias. For  an  answer  to  the  demand,  Ramiro  called  out 
his  fighting  men,  and  went  to  meet  the  Moors  near  a  vil- 
lage in  Leon.  The  fight  lasted  two  days,  and  the  first  day 
the  Moors  had  the  advantage.  But  in  the  night,  says  the 
legend,  the  blessed  San  lago  appeared  to  the  king  and  bade 
him  be  of  good  cheer,  that  he  would  be  with  him  on  the 
morrow.  Sure  enough,  as  the  armies  engaged,  the  saint 
appeared  in  a  suit  of  white  armor,  on  a  milk-white  steed, 
and  scattered  the  Moors  so  that  they  threw  their  arms 
away  in  their  flight.  Thus  the  horrid  tribute  was  abol- 
ished forever. 

It  was  about  these  times  that  Fernando  Gonzales  was 
Count  of  Castile,  and  in  lov£  with  Sancha,  the  daughter  of 


CHURCH  AT  VALENCIA 


740-1065]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  77 

Garcia,  the  King  of  Navarre.  He  was  on  his  way  to  Na- 
varre to  court  her  when  her  father  treacherously  seized 
him  and  thrust  him  into  a  dungeon.  A  Norman  knight 
heard  of  his  capture,  and  the  old  ballad  tells  what  hap- 
pened : 

"  They  have  borne  into  Navarre 

The  great  Count  of  Castile, 
And  they  have  bound  him  sorely — 

They  have  bound  him  hand  and  heel: 
There  is  great  joy  and  feasting 

Because  that  lord  is  ta'en; 
King  Garcia  in  his  dungeon 

Holds  the  doughtiest  lord  in  Spain. 
The  Moors  may  well  be  joyful, 

But  great  should  be  our  grief, 
For  Spain  has  lost  her  guardian, 

When  Castile  lost  her  chief; 
The  Moorish  host  is  pouring 

Like  a  river  o'er  the  land  ; 
Curse  on  the  Christian  fetters 

That  bind  Gonzales's  hand." 

The  knight  bade  Sancha  try  to  set  him  free,  for  her  love's 
sake. 

"  The  lady  answered  little, 

But  at  the  dead  of  night, 
When  all  her  maids  are  sleeping, 

She  hath  risen  and  ta'en  her  flight: 
She  hath  tempted  the  Alcayde 

With  her  jewels  and  her  gold, 
And  unto  her  his  prisoner 

That  jailer  false  hath  sold." 

Then  she  married  her  true  love,  and  years  afterwards, 
when  he  was  made  prisoner  in  the  wars  and  again  locked  up 
in  a  dungeon,  she  prayed  leave  to  visit  him  just  once.  The 
favor  granted,  she  changed  clothes  with  him.  He  escaped 
in  the  gown  of  a  woman,  and  when  the  jailer  came  round 
he  found  the  countess  in  the  cuirass  and  boots  of  a  knight. 


78  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [740-1065 

Other  kings  followed  Ramiro,  but  nothing  happened  in 
their  reigns  which  you  would  care  to  hear.  The  provinces 
waged  incessant  war  against  each  other ;  and  in  one  of  the 
wars  the  King  of  Leon,  whose  name  was  Garcias,  overthrew 
the  King  of  the  Asturias,  and  annexed  his  kingdom.  He 
and  his  descendants  held  the  throne  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  then  the  King  of  Navarre,  Sancho  Mayor,  swooped 
down  upon  Leon  and  Asturias,  conquered  both,  and  extend- 
ed his  kingdom  from  the  Pyrenees  to  the  Atlantic.  He  left 
his  dominions  to  his  son  Ferdinand,  who  in  1035  became 
monarch  of  all  Northern  Spain  except  Catalonia. 

That  fine  province,  which  is  separated  from  Aragon  by 
the  river  Ebro,  is  one  of  the  richest  portions  of  Spain.  It 
contains  the  City  of  Barcelona,  which  was  a  famous  place 
of  trade  in  the  time  of  the  Carthaginians,  and  is  a  lively 
seaport  to-day.  Eight  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  it  was 
ruled  by  a  family  named  Berenguer,  who  called  themselves 
counts,  and  were  independent  of  Moor,  Christian,  Spaniard, 
and  Frank.  You  hear  much  of  them  in  the  history  of  the 
Crusades.  Two  of  them,  father  and  son,  both  named  Ray- 
mond Berenguer,  went  to  the  Crusades  at  the  head  of  their 
fighting  men,  and  both  died  in  Palestine.  One  of  them 
was  a  Knight  Templar,  whose  exploits  made  much  noise  at 
the  time.  These  counts  set  King  Ferdinand  at  defiance, 
and  he  did  not  care  to  molest  them.  So  Catalonia  was  the 
only  northern  province  of  Spain  which  did  not  form  part 
of  the  Christian  league  against  the  Moors. 

Ferdinand,  King  of  Northern  Spain  from  1035  to  1065, 
led  a  life  of  toil  and  strife ;  when  he  felt  his  end  ap- 
proaching he  had  himself  carried  to  a  church,  where  he 
prayed  and  confessed  to  the  priests,  took  off  his  royal 
robes,  put  on  the  garment  of  repentance,  and  laid  down  and 
died. 

Before  we  begin  the  long  story  of  the  death  grapple  be- 
tween Moor  and  Christian,  you  may  care  to  hear  some- 
thing of  what  was  happening  in  other  countries  at  that 
time. 


740-1065]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  79 

In  the  year  following  the  death  of  Ferdinand,  William, 
Duke  of  Normandy,  fought  the  battle  of  Hastings  and 
conquered  England,  which  was  then  a  wild  country,  with- 
out learning,  or  wealth,  or  trade,  or  good  roads,  or  fine 
buildings,  except  monasteries  and  churches.  In  France, 
about  the  same  time,  a  Church  decree  forbade  the  marriage 
of  priests,  and  this,  among  other  things,  caused  the  separa- 
tion of  the  Catholic  and  the  Greek  Churches.  In  Italy  a 
love  for  letters  broke  out,  schools  and  ccrlleges  were  found- 
ed, and  interesting  works  were  written ;  the  courts  of  the 
Pope  and  of  some  of  the  nobility  were  polished,  and  were 
frequented  by  learned  men.  At  this  time  the  Empire  of 
the  East,  of  which  Constantinople  was  the  capital,  began 
to  be  molested  by  Moslem  raids ;  the  long  fight  between 
Moslem  and  Christian,  which,  after  lasting  four  hundred 
years,  was  destined  to  end  thirty-seven  years  before  the 
same  fight  in  Spain — though  in  a  different  way — had  fairly 
begun. 

And,  finally,  thirty-four  years  before  Ferdinand  became 
king,  a  Norman  or  Norwegian  sea-rover,  named  Leif,is  said 
to  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  to  have  landed  in  Rhode 
Island.  This  story  is  legend,  and  you  are  not  required  to 
believe  it  if  you  think  it  improbable — though  it  may  quite 
possibly  be  true. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  CID  CAMPEADOR 

A.D.  1064-1099 

AFTER  some  years  of  confusion  the  kingdom  of  Ferdi- 
nand fell  into  the  hands  of  his  son  Alfonso.  It  was  in  his 
time  that  the  Cid  Campeador,  or  the  "Lord  Challenger," 
figured  in  the  old  history  of  Spain ;  and  though  his  story 
reads  like  a  fanciful  legend,  and  some  pundits  have  even 
doubted  whether  there  ever  was  such  a  personage,  he  is  too 
famous  in  Spain  to  be  passed  over. 

We  must  suppose  that  he  really  lived,  and  that  he  was, 
at  twenty,  one  of  the  class  of  men  whom  the  troublous 
times  called  into  being  —  a  fighting  adventurer,  brave, 
strong,  skilful,  but  ready  to  sell  his  services  to  any  one 
who  could  pay  for  them.  In  those  days,  when  two  armies 
met,  it  was  common  for  a  knight  to  ride  out  of  the  ranks 
and  challenge  any  knight  on  the  opposite  side  to  single 
combat,  while  the  two  armies  looked  on.  This  knight  was 
called  a  challenger — in  Spanish,  campeador.  Even  while 
he  was  a  mere  boy  the  Cid  became  famous  as  a  campea- 
dor; hardly  a  day  passed  that  he  did  not  fight  some  one. 
Once,  when  Castile  and  Navarre  were  at  war,  he  challenged 
a  huge  knight  of  Navarre,  and  killed  him.  For  this  the 
King  of  Castile  gave  him  high  command. 

But  not  long  afterwards  the  king  grew  suspicious  of  him 
and  banished  him,  declaring  that  any  one  who  gave  him 
food  or  shelter  after  ten  days  should  lose  their  possessions 
and  their  eyes.  The  Cid  rode  away  with  a  few  friends, 
homeless,  sad,  and  cheerless  ;  but  he  took  some  comfort 
when  at  Bivar  he  saw  a  crow  on  his  right  hand,  and  at 
Burgos  another  crow  on  his  left.  At  Burgos  he  tried  to 


1064-1099]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  81 

get  food  and  a  roof  to  shelter  him;  but  every  door  was 
closed,  and  when  he  hammered  with  his  spear,  a  little  girl 
came  out  of  a  house  and  told  him  people  were  afraid  to 
open  to  him,  for  the  king  had  said  that  those  that  did  so 
should  lose  their  houses  and  their  eyes.  He  rode  on 
mournfully  to  San  Pedro,  where  his  wife  and  daughters 
were,  and  the  good  abbot  of  the  monastery  fed  him  and 
his  men. 

His  wife  wept  bitterly  at  the  parting,  but  he  comforted 
her,  saying, 

"  Please  God,  and  Saint  Mary,  I  shall  live  to  give  these 
daughters  of  mine  in  marriage,  and  to  do  my  service  to 
you,  my  honored  wife." 

From  San  Pedro  he  rode  to  Saragossa,  which  was  ruled 
by  the  Moors,  and  he  offered  his  sword  to  the  Moorish 
prince,  who  quickly  accepted  it,  and  despatched  him  to 
raid  the  neighboring  state  of  Aragon.  He  rode  through 
Aragon  like  the  wind,  slaying  every  man  he  met,  burning 
houses  and  trees,  tearing  up  vines,  and  stealing  what  he 
could  carry  off.  I  hardly  think  that  this  was  honorable 
work  for  one  who  relied  on  God  and  the  Virgin  Mary ;  but 
you  must  remember  that  the  Cid  was  a  soldier  of  fort- 
une. 

After  a  time  he  left  the  employ  of  the  Prince  of  Sara- 
gossa, and  took  service  with  a  Christian  prince  or  count,  to 
serve  against  the  Moors.  According  to  the  story,  he  was 
the  most  terrible  foe  they  had  met.  When  the  Moors  saw 
him  and  his  body-guard  coming  at  full  gallop  on  their  fast 
horses,  every  man  with  his  lance  in  rest  and  his  shield 
covering  his  heart,  they  made  a  lane  for  them  to  pass, 
while  the  Cid  shouted :  "Smite  them,  knights,  for  the  love  of 
charity  !"  Queer  ideas  of  charity  they  had  in  those  days! 

Then  he  went  back  into  the  service  of  the  Moors,  and 
the  Prince  of  Saragossa  gave  him  the  city  of  Valencia  to 
rule,  and  to  be  his  own.  From  this  city  he  raided  the 
neighboring  country,  carrying  off  booty  and  prisoners  for 
sale  at  Valencia.  On  one  of  these  expeditions  he  strayed 
6 


82  A  CHILD'S  HISTOBY  OP  SPAIN  [1064-1099 

too  far  from  home,  and  his  old  enemy  Alfonso  laid  hands 
on  Valencia.  When  he  heard  of  it,  the  Cid  turned  furious- 
ly on  Alfonso's  Castilian  towns  in  the  valley  of  the  Ebro, 
and  with  terrible  hand  he  wasted  and  harried  them,  stripped 
them  bare  of  their  riches,  and  carried  everything  off  that  he 
could  handle.  But  when  he  returned  to  Valencia  he  found 
the  gates  closed  and  the  enemy  in  possession. 

He  sat  down  before  the  town  and  besieged  it  for  nine 
months.  There  was  no  food  to  be  bought  in  the  place,  and 
the  people  were  in  "the  waves  of  death;"  tender  maidens 
and  strong  men  were  seen  to  drop  of  hunger  in  the  streets. 
The  Cid  cut  off  the  river  Guadalaviar,  so  that  the  garri- 
son had  to  battle  with  thirst  as  well  as  hunger.  Valencia 
surrendered  at  last,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  people 
were  not  butchered,  as  the  custom  of  that  day  was.  The 
Cid  took  their  goods,  and  then  forgave  them;  after  which 
he  proclaimed  himself  King  of  Valencia. 

Here  he  kept  his  promise,  sent  for  his  daughters,  and 
married  them  to  two  counts,  whose  name  was  Carrion.  It 
was  a  fitting  name,  for  the  counts  shamefully  neglected 
their  wives,  beat  them,  whipped  them  publicly,  and  left 
them  bleeding  in  a  wood.  I  wish  the  Cid  had  punished 
the  Carrion  counts,  but  I  cannot  find  that  he  did. 

After  a  time  a  great  Moorish  army  marched  up  against 
Valencia.  The  Cid  had  but  a  few  men,  but  he  was  as 
undaunted  as  ever.  He  mustered  his  forces,  such  as  they 
were,  and  at  cock-crow  they  heard  mass  sung  by  a  valiant 
bishop,  whose  name  was  Hieronymo.  When  the  mass  was 
over  the  bishop  absolved  the  soldiers,  and  begged  the 
privilege  of  leading  the  attack.  It  was  so  arranged;  and 
when  the  gate  was  opened,  the  fighting  bishop,  on  a  pow- 
erful charger,  led  the  van  with  a  lance  in  his  hand  and  a 
mace  at  his  saddle-bow.  Presently  the  voice  of  the  Cid 
was  heard  shouting  "  God  and  Santiago  !"  the  terrible 
bishop,  who  had  broken  his  lance,  was  smashing  a  Moorish 
head  with  every  blow  of  his  heavy  mace,  and  the  Moors, 
scared  by  the  appearance  of  a  body  of  men  whom  the 


1064-1099]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  83 

Cid  had  placed  in  ambush,  broke  in  every  direction  and 
scattered. 

But  the  Moors  came  on  again,  and  this  time  they  drove 
the  Christians  back  into  the  city.  In  July,  1099,  we  are 
told  in  the  story  that  the  Cid  died  of  grief  for  the  defeat. 
That  he  died  is  sure ;  the  accounts  of  his  death-bed  are 
hardly  so  certain.  They  say  that  for  seven  nights  his 
father  and  his  son,  who  were  both  dead,  appeared  to  him 
and  said: 

"  You  have  tarried  long  enough  here,  now  come  among 
the  people  who  endure  forever." 

Then  St.  Peter  appeared  to  him,  and  said  he  should  live 
thirty  days  and  no  more.  At  the  end  of  the  thirty  days 
he  received  the  sacrament  from  the  fighting  bishop,  and 
passed  into  his  rest. 

When  he  was  stiff  in  death  his  wife,  Dona  Ximena,  took 
his  body  and  set  it  on  his  horse  Barieca,  and  fastened  his 
body  on  the  saddle  so  that  it  should  not  fall.  His  sword 
Tizona  was  grasped  in  his  hand,  his  eyes  were  open  and 
strangely  bright,  and  his  long  beard  floated  down  his 
breast.  A  squire  led  his  horse  out  of  Valencia,  five  hun- 
dred knights  rode  as  a  body-guard;  behind  the  body  fol- 
lowed Dona  Ximena  and  her  attendants.  The  procession 
moved  slowly  and  silently,  and  the  Moors,  not  quite  under- 
standing it,  made  way  for  it  to  pass. 

It  halted  at  the  church  at  San  Pedro  de  Cardena,  and 
there,  under  a  canopy  which  bore  the  Cid's  coat  of  arms, 
the  body  was  set  upright  in  an  ivory  chair,  still  sword  in 
hand.  For  ten  years,  says  the  legend,  the  corpse  forbore 
to  decay  ;  when  the  skin  began  to  change  color  it  was 
reverently  taken  out  of  the  ivory  chair  and  buried  before 
the  altar,  by  the  side  of  the  faithful  Ximena.  Just  fifty 
years  ago  a  coffin,  which  was  said  to  contain  the  bones  of 
the  Cid  Campeador,  was  dug  out  of  the  vault  of  the 
church  of  San  Pedro  de  Cardena,  and  reburied  in  the  town- 
hall  of  Burgos.  You  will  thus  perceive  that  good  Span- 
iards believe  that  the  Cid  was  a  real  personage,  and  that 


84  A  CHILD'S  HISTOKY  OF  SPAIN  [1064-1099 

his  body  was  really  buried  where  the  legend  says.  I 
think  it  will  do  you  no  harm  to  admit  that  his  story  was 
founded  on  fact. 

A  whole  library  of  romance  and  poetry  has  been  written 
about  the  Cid.  Some  of  the  poems  which  narrate  his  ad- 
ventures are  very  fine  indeed.  One  of  the  most  beautiful 
stories  of  his  life  was  written  by  the  English  poet  Southey, 
and  called  the  "  Chronicle  of  the  Cid."  There  is  also  in 
French  a  tragedy  by  Corneille,  which  is  written  in  such 
pure  French  and  such  manly  verse  that  boys  read  it  in 
learning  French  at  school.  The  Spaniards  always  think 
of  the  Cid  as  one  of  their  early  heroes. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  BATTLE   OF  LAS  NAVAS 

A.D.  1002-1212 

AFTER  the  fall  of  the  great  Vizier  Almanzor  all  Moorish 
Spain  went  to  pieces.  The  nobles  declared  themselves  in- 
dependent and  absolute  rulers  over  the  country  round 
their  castles.  They  were  continually  warring  with  each 
other,  and  wasting  the  substance  of  the  people  who 
worked.  Almost  every  year  the  Christians  of  Castile  and 
Leon  and  Asturias,  with  the  Berbers  of  Galicia,  swooped 
down  upon  the  Moorish  cities,  robbed  them  and  murdered 
their  inhabitants.  In  this  way  the  beautiful  city  of  Cor- 
dova was  sacked,  and  most  of  its  splendid  monuments 
destroyed. 

After  enduring  this  misery  for  over  half  a  century,  the 
Moors  resolved  to  call  upon  their  friends  in  Africa  for 
help.  These  friends  were  called  Almoravides,  or  Mara- 
bouts, which  means  "  the  truly  pious."  They  formed  a 
powerful  nation,  which  lived  round  the  city  of  Morocco  ; 
their  ruler  was  an  old  man  named  Yussef,  who  was  tall 
and  dark,  with  piercing  eyes,  a  long  beard,  a  powerful 
frame,  and  a  pleasant  voice.  Like  many  of  his  people,  he 
was  ignorant,  and  could  barely  read  and  write;  but  his 
mind  was  broad,  and  his  foresight  clear. 

When  it  was  first  proposed  to  invite  this  African  to 
Spain  some  of  the  Andalusian  chiefs  objected,  declaring 
that  the  fierce  dwellers  in  the  African  desert  were  more 
like  tigers  than  men.  But  it  was  answered  that  they 
could  not  be  worse  than  the  Christians,  and  that  it  would 
be  better  for  an  Andalusian  to  drive  camels  for  Yussef 
than  to  herd  swine  for  the  dogs  of  Castile. 


86  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1002-1212 

So  Yussef  came  with  an  army,  met  Alfonso,  who  was 
then  King  of  Castile,  Leon,  and  the  Asturias,  at  Zallaka,  in 
October,  1086,  and  utterly  defeated  him.  The  Christian 
king  had  trouble  to  escape  with  his  body-guard,  and  the 
Moorish  chiefs,  who  for  several  years  had  been  paying 
him  tribute  for  the  sake  of  peace,  threw  him  over  and 
welcomed  Yussef  to  their  cities. 

They  did  not  make  much  by  the  change.  One  of  Yus- 
sef's  first  acts  was  to  seize  the  chief  who  had  invited  him 
to  Spain,  and  to  banish  him  and  all  his  family  to  Africa 
in  chains.  The  Moslem  went  on  board  ship  with  un- 
moved face,  saying  to  his  children : 

"  This  is  the  will  of  Allah  ;  let  us  bear  it  in  pa- 
tience." 

Then  Yussef  took  Seville,  Granada,  and  other  cities,  rich 
and  splendid,  and  divided  their  treasures  among  his  men. 
He  put  down  robbery,  because  he  intended  to  do  all  the 
robbing  himself.  He  took  the  goods  of  Christians  be- 
cause they  were  Christians,  the  goods  of  Jews  because 
they  were  Jews,  and  the  goods  of  Moors  because  they 
were  rich.  His  troops,  who  were  never  tired  of  compar- 
ing the  fertile  valleys  of  Andalusia  with  the  parched  sands 
of  the  desert  where  they  had  been  brought  up,  turned 
brigands.  He  was  laying  a  heavy  hand  on  Spain,  when 
he  died,  at  the  age  of  ninety-seven. 

His  power  fell  to  a  son,  who  died  ;  then  to  a  grandson, 
who  one  dark  night  rode  over  a  precipice  into  the  sea  ; 
and  then  to  a  boy,  named  Ibrahim.  Now  it  befell  that 
the  city  of  Morocco,  in  Africa,  where  Ibrahim  lived,  was 
besieged  by  the  son  of  a  lamplighter,  who  said  that  he 
was  more  devout  than  the  Marabouts  themselves.  Like 
the  Arab  chief  who  put  General  Gordon  to  death  ten 
years  ago,  he  called  himself  the  Mahdi.  The  Mahdi's 
army  took  Morocco,  and  young  Ibrahim  on  his  knees 
begged  his  life  from  the  conqueror,  who  hesitated,  the 
boy  was  so  young  and  so  fair. 

But  a  Mahdist  cried: 


THE  CATHEDRAL,   SEVILLE 


1002-1 2 12]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  89 

"  Would  you  spare  the  cub  of  the  lion,  who  may  some 
day  devour  us  all  ?" 

Which  sealed  the  fate  of  Ibrahim  and  his  followers. 

It  was  this  butcher  who  now  took  the  command  of  the 
Moors  in  Spain,  and  declared  he  would  tread  in  the  foot- 
steps of  Yussef. 

But  Christian  Spain  was  aroused.  The  Pope  sent  let- 
ters to  the  kings  and  counts,  imploring  them  to  save  Spain 
from  the  power  of  the  infidel.  For  a  time  they  agreed  to 
forget  their  quarrels.  The  kings  and  counts  embraced, 
and  swore  they  would  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder.  Castile 
and  Aragon,  Navarre  and  Asturias,  Catalonia  and  Galicia, 
all  sent  troops  to  serve  under  the  banners  of  the  King 
of  Castile,  who  was  another  Alfonso;  and  many  a  good 
knight  from  France  and  Portugal  rode  to  join  the  host. 
After  a  solemn  fast,  King  Alfonso  gave  the  signal,  and 
the  mighty  army  was  set  in  motion.  When  it  reached 
the  great  mountain  range  which  divides  New  Castile  from 
Central  Spain  they  found  the  Moors  in  possession  of  all 
the  mountain  passes,  and  the  king  was  for  a  moment  puz- 
zled. But  a  shepherd  showed  him  a  pass  which  the  Moors 
had  neglected,  and  by  that  pass  the  whole  army  gradually 
defiled  into  the  southern  plain. 

It  was  the  July  of  1212.  In  front  of  the  Christian  army 
which  had  camped  at  the  mountain  slope  was  the  village 
of  Tolosa,  in  a  plain  called  Las  Navas,  on  which  the  Moors 
were  drawn  in  line  of  battle  with  the  long  thread  of  their 
spears  shining  in  the  sun  from  the  blue  horizon  on  one 
side  to  the  purple  mountain  ridge  on  the  other.  At  the 
trumpet  call  the  Christians  rolled  down  the  slope  like  an 
avalanche  and  fell  upon  the  enemy.  They  knew  that  if 
they  were  beaten  the  Cross  in  Spain  would  go  down  in 
blood,  and  the  Crescent  would  rise,  perhaps  to  stay.  So 
every  man  tightened  his  waist-belt,  called  on  Saint  Jago, 
and  struck  his  heaviest  blows. 

The  sun  had  not  set,  though  it  was  low  down  in  the  sky, 
the  hot  anv  still  glowed  on  that  sultry  July  afternoon, 


90 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN 


[1002-1212 


when  an  African  led  a  swift  mule  to  the  Moorish  chief, 
and  gasped: 

"  Prince  of  the  faithful,  how  long  wilt  thou  remain 
here  ?  Dost  thou  not  see  that  thy  Moslems  flee  ?  The 
will  of  Allah  be  done." 

"  Allah,"  gravely  replied  the  Moor,  "Allah  alone  is  just 
and  strong;  the  devil  is  false  and  wicked." 


A  MOORISH  CAMP 

And  he  mounted  the  mule,  drove  his  spurs  into  its  sides, 
and  was  soon  out  of  sight. 

The  victory  of  the  Christians  showed  kings  and  counts 
what  they  could  do  when  they  were  united.  They  did 
not  all  learn  the  lesson.  Feuds  still  broke  out  among 


1002-1212]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  91 

them,  but  after  this  they  generally  acted  in  concert  against 
the  Moors.  In  those  old  dark  days,  when  there  was  no 
printing,  there  were  few  writers  of  history,  and  our  ac- 
counts of  events  were  meagre;  but  bits  of  stories  have 
come  down  to  us,  which  are  sometimes  pleasant  and  some- 
times not. 

One  of  the  Alfonsos  of  Castile,  sixth  of  the  name,  lost 
his  son  in  a  battle,  and  was  nearly  killed  by  his  grief. 
The  legend  says  that  he  paced  the  rooms  of  his  court 
crying: 

"  Oh,  my  son,  joy  of  my  heart,  and  light  of  my  eyes,  my 
mirror,  in  which  I  used  to  see  myself  !  Oh,  my  dear  ! 
Cavaliers,  what  have  you  done  with  him  ?  Counts,  give 
me  my  son  !  Give  me  my  son  !" 

Another  Alfonso,  who  was  King  of  Aragon,  died  with- 
out heirs.  Being  extraordinarily  pious,  he  left  his  king- 
dom by  will  to  a  body  of  monks  at  Rome.  But  the  peo- 
ple of  Aragon  had  no  idea  of  being  willed  away  like  a 
herd  of  cattle.  They  met  as  a  Cortes,  annulled  the  king's 
testament,  and  elected  his  brother  to  be  their  king.  He 
was  a  monk  by  calling,  but  he  made  a  very  good  king. 

It  was  daring  this  period  of  conflict  between  Moors  and 
Christians  that  the  Spanish  people  acquired  their  first  lib- 
erties. Towns  were  generally  built  around  castles,  and  the 
count  of  the  castle  ruled  the  town  and  the  country  round 
about,  often  cruelly  and  unjustly.  I  read  of  one  of  them 
who  used  to  yoke  his  prisoners,  and  sometimes,  when 
prisoners  ran  short,  his  own  vassals,  to  the  plough  to  till 
his  lands;  when  they  complained  of  not  having  enough  to 
eat,  he  bade  them  go  fill  themselves  with  grass. 

When  the  king  founded  a  city  he  gave  it  a  charter,  or 
f  uero,  which  provided  that  the  people  should  have  certain 
rights  that  could  not  be  taken  from  them.  After  a  time 
the  people  of  districts  demanded  charters  from  the  counts 
who  claimed  to  rule  them,  and  in  a  great  many  cases,  es- 
pecially where  the  demand  was  made  by  a  city  which  lent 
money  to  the  count,  the  charters  were  granted.  These 


92  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1002-1212 

not  only  provided  for  the  punishment  of  crime,  but  like- 
wise set  limits  to  the  power  of  the  counts,  declaimed  that 
all  men  were  equal  before  the  law,  forbade  the  persecution 
of  Jews,  fixed  the  amount  of  taxes  which  the  count  could 
collect,  forbade  his  interference  in  households,  and  in  sev- 
eral cases  imposed  penalties  on  bachelors  who  refused  to 
marry.  If  the  king  or  the  count  attempted  to  break  these 
charters  the  people  flew  to  arms  to  maintain  them. 

You  will  see,  as  we  go  on  with  this  Child's  History,  that 
these  fueros,  or  charters,  were  the  nest  of  Spanish  liberty, 
just  as  township  self-government  has  been  the  nest  of  na- 
tional liberty  in  this  country.  The  Spaniard  who  lived  in 
a  town  which  had  a  fuero  knew  that  he  had  rights  which 
no  king  or  count  could  trample  on;  it  was  a  short  step  for 
him  to  learn  that  he  had  also  rights  as  a  member  of  the 
nation,  and  he  would  have  learned  the  lesson,  to  his  un- 
ending benefit,  but  for  an  influence  of  which  I  shall  have 
to  tell  you  in  the  remainder  of  this  history. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

SEVILLE 
A.D.  1213-1284 

BETWEEN  the  dates  of  the  battle  of  Zallaka  and  the  bat- 
tle of  Las  Navas,  all  Spain,  except  a  strip  in  the  North,  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Moors.  They  held  the  valley  of  the 
Guadalquivir,  with  Seville  and  Cordova,  and  the  best  por- 
tions of  Andalusia ;  the  province  of  Granada  with  the  city 
of  the  same  name;  most  of  Murcia;  the  province  of  Va- 
lencia with  its  city ;  parts  of  Aragon,  and  the  valley  of  the 
Ebro,  with  Saragossa ;  and  in  the  centre  of  Spain  the  best 
part  of  Estremadura  and  New  Castile,  with  the  valley  of 
the  Tagus  and  the  city  of  Toledo.  The  whole  sea-coast, 
from  the  Cape  of  Gibraltar  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ebro,  was 
theirs. 

At  this  time  the  Christians  held  their  own  country  in 
the  North,  spreading  from  the  Bay  of  Biscay  to  the  foot- 
hills of  the  Guadarrama  Mountains,  and  comprising,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  the  provinces  I  have  so  often  named — 
Galicia,  the  Asturias,  the  Basque  Country,  Leon,  Old  Cas- 
tile, and  Aragon.  Navarre  and  Catalonia  considered  that 
they  were  independent,  and  not  part  of  Spain. 

After  the  battle  of  Las  Navas  the  parts  were  reversed. 
One  city  after  another,  one  kingdom,  or  principality,  after 
another  deserted  the  Moors,  and  declared  itself  on  the  side 
of  the  Christians.  In  1236  Ferdinand  of  Castile  occu- 
pied Cordova,  and  planted  the  flag  of  the  Cross  over  the 
great  mosque.  Ten  years  later,  after  a  long  siege,  he  took 
Seville,  which  had  been  the  Moorish  capital  after  the  Moors 
had  been  driven  out  of  Cordova;  two  years  afterwards  he 
took  Valencia.  Malaga  fell  soon  after.  Thus,  about  the 


94  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN           [1213-1284 

year  1250,  the  only  part  of  Spain  which  the  Moors  still 
held  was  the  City  of  Granada,  the  fertile  country  round 
it  to  the  slopes  of  the  snowy  mountains,  its  seaport  Al- 
meria,  and  a  strip  of  coast  running  towards  Gibraltar.  All 
the  rest  of  Spain  was  in  Christian  hands,  and  was  ruled  by 
Ferdinand  the  Third,  who  had  united  Castile  and  Leon, 
and  was  recognized  as  the  head  of  the  Christian  princes. 
He  was  a  valiant  soldier  and  a  just  ruler;  but  what  made 
people  think  most  of  him  was  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
scourging  himself  frequently  by  way  of  penance  for  his 
sins. 

When  he  died  his  body  was  embalmed  and  was  placed 
in  a  silver  coffin  with  glass  sides,  which  stands  in  the  royal 
chapel  of  the  cathedral  of  Seville.  He  is  in  his  royal 
robes,  with  his  crown  on  his  head.  His  hands  are  crossed 
over  his  breast.  On  one  side  of  him  lies  his  sceptre,  on  the 
other  his  sword.  There  were  once  jewels  in  the  handles  of 
both,  but  they  were  long  ago  stolen,  it  is  said,  by  later 
kings  of  Spain.  On  holidays  the  body  is  exhibited  to  the 
people. 

When  Ferdinand  took  Seville  it  was  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  beautiful  cities  of  Spain.  It  is  still  marvellously 
beautiful,  though  it  is  not  as  large  as  it  was  five  hundred 
years  ago.  It  then  contained  as  many  people  as  Baltimore 
or  San  Francisco  to  -  day.  It  only  houses  one  -  third  as 
many  in  our  time.  The  city  stood  in  a  plain  on  the  banks 
of  the  Guadalquivir,  and  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  with 
sixty -six  towers  and  eighteen  gates.  Outside  the  wall 
were  orange  and  olive  groves,  groups  of  palms,  vineyards, 
and  forests  of  graceful  and  fragrant  trees  from  the  East. 
The  houses  were  of  marble,  and  some  of  them  were  mag- 
nificent. The  old  Spaniards  had  a  proverb  :  Who  has  not 
seen  Seville  has  missed  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world. 

It  is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  we  know.  Twenty-three  or 
twenty  -  four  hundred  years  ago  it  was  a  Phoenician  or 
Carthaginian  town,  and  a  place  of  active  trade.  The 
Carthaginians  called  it  Sephela,  and  built  there  a  temple 


A  STREET  CORNER,   SEVILLE 


1213-1284]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  97 

to  Astarte,  their  goddess  of  Love ;  the  building  has  been 
successively  a  temple  of  Astarte,  a  temple  to  some  Roman 
god,  a  Gothic  church,  a  Moorish  mosque,  and  a  Catholic 
cathedral.  It  is  a  noble  edifice,  with  a  tower  three  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  high,  an  immense  organ,  and  a  library  which 
was  founded  by  the  son  of  Christopher  Columbus.  Other 
buildings  carry  you  back,  as  you  look  at  them,  to  very  an- 
cient times  indeed,  and  remind  you  of  the  changes  which 
the  world  has  seen.  There  is  a  spot  where  the  Cartha- 
ginians used  to  light  fires  to  Moloch  and  throw  their 
children  into  them;  it  was  afterwards  a  parade-ground  for 
Roman  legions;  then  a  barrack  was  built  on  it  for  Moor- 
ish cavalry;  and  now  it  is  covered  with  a  bull -ring,  in 
which  eleven  thousand  people  watch  fights  between  bulls 
and  matadors. 

You  can  see  a  tall  building  which  goes  by  the  name  of 
the  Tower  of  Gold.  This  was  built  by  the  Romans.  Pa- 
tricians used  to  ascend  to  the  top  of  it  to  enjoy  the  even- 
ing breeze  and  the  sight  of  the  silver  Guadalquivir  wind- 
ing through  the  orange  -  groves  and  the  purple  vines. 
When  Spanish  galleons  began  to  bring  gold  from  America 
the  tower  was  turned  into  a  treasure-house,  and  regiments 
of  soldiers  camped  round  to  guard  it.  It  is  a  ruin  now. 
And  there  is  another  building,  where  three  thousand  wom- 
en, chiefly  from  the  Canary  Islands,  make  cigars  and  ciga- 
rettes. On  its  site  there  was  once  a  Moorish  castle,  where 
many  a  dark  deed  was  done  and  many  a  bright-eyed  girl 
was  stabbed  to  the  heart  by  a  jealous  lover. 

The  Moors  of  Seville  were  as  polished  as  the  Moors  of 
Cordova,  and  they  were  gentle  in  disposition,  though  fierce 
fighters  when  they  were  roused.  Of  the  siege  which  led 
to  its  capture  the  ballad  says  : 

"  King  Ferdinand  alone  did  stand 

One  day  upon  the  hill, 
Surveying  all  his  leaguers 
And  the  ramparts  of  Seville. 


98  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1213-1284 

The  sight  was  grand  when  Ferdinand 

By  proud  Seville  was  lying, 
O'er  tower  and  tree  far  off  to  see 

The  Christian  banners  flying." 

A  Christian  knight  who  covered  himself  with  glory  at 
the  siege  of  Seville  was  Don  Garcia  de  Vargas,  of  Toledo. 
He  was  a  mighty  man  of  war,  and  never  counted  odds. 
Once  he  was  attacked  by  seven  Moors  together.  The  bal- 
lad tells  us  how  he  got  out  of  the  trouble : 

"That  day  the  lord  of  Vargas 

Caine  to  the  camp  alone, 
His  scarf,  his  lady's  largess, 

Around  his  heart  was  thrown; 
Bare  was  his  head,  his  sword  was  red, 

And  from  its  pummel  strung 
Seven  turbans  green,  sore  hacked  I  ween, 

Before  Don  Garcia  hung." 

King  Ferdinand  of  Castile  and  Leon  died  in  1252;  his 
son  and  successor,  Alfonso  the  Learned,  reigned  from  1252 
to  1284.  As  his  sobriquet  indicates,  he  was  a  man  of  pro- 
digious learning.  He  understood  music,  astronomy,  and 
mathematics.  He  drew  a  code  of  laws.  He  wrote  a  his- 
tory of  Spain.  He  translated  the  Bible  into  Spanish.  He 
wrote  prose,  discourses  on  politics  and  morals,  and  poetry 
on  love  and  romance.  He  knew  so  much,  and  was  so  well 
aware  of  it,  that  he  is  said  to  have  observed  that  if  he  could 
have  been  consulted  when  the  world  was  created  he  might 
have  made  some  useful  suggestions. 

But,  with  all  his  learning  and  all  his  good  heart — he  was 
really  a  kindly  monarch,  though  he  had  murdered  his 
brother  in  the  flush  of  youth — he  was  always  in  trouble. 
He  forbade  any  interference  with  the  Moors,  who  had 
gathered  in  Granada,  and  thus  displeased  the  Christians. 
who  were  eager  to  persecute  the  Moslems,  now  they  had 
got  them  down.  He  had  two  sous  ;  they  quarrelled  with 


LANE  IN  SEVILLE 


each  other  and  with  him 
about  the  succession,  and 
both  the  Pope  and  the 
King  of  France  took  a 
hand  in  the  quarrel;  the 
former  with  bulls  of  ex- 
communication, the  latter 
with  threats  of  war. 

One  of  the  sons  was 
named  Sancho.  He  act- 
ually rebelled  against  his 
father,  and  took  the  field 


fighting  men. 
King  Alfonso  cursed 
him,  and  the  Pope 
cursed  him,  and 
Sancho,  who  was  a 
good  deal  broken  up 
by  so  many  curses, 
laid  down  his  arms 
and  took  to  his  bed, 


THE  GIRALDA  TOWER,   SEVILLE 


102  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1213-1284 

declaring  that  he  was  going  to  die.  At  this  the  fond 
old  father  relented,  and  moaned  and  lamented  till  he 
also  was  taken  ill  of  a  fever.  He  was  for  taking  back 
all  his  curses,  but  Sancho  said  it  was  no  use,  he  was  going 
to  die,  and  a  few  curses  more  or  less  would  not  matter. 
At  this  the  father  bemoaned  himself  more  piteously  than 
ever,  until  he  made  himself  so  ill  that,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  a  few  physicians,  he  presently  died.  On  which  oc- 
currence Sancho  got  out  of  bed,  shook  off  his  illness,  and 
began  to  rule  the  kingdom. 

You  may  be  interested  to  know  that  at  the  very  time 
the  Christians  were  crushing  the  Moors  of  Spain  and  tak- 
ing cities  which  the  latter  never  recovered,  the  same  Mos- 
lem race  were  inflicting  terrible  defeats  on  the  Christians, 
who  for  fifty  years  had  been  crusading  to  the  East  to 
rescue  Jerusalem  from  the  hands  of  the  infidel.  In  the 
same  year  that  the  Spanish  Moors  were  penned  up  in  Gra- 
nada, the  knights  and  men-at-arms  who,  under  the  lead  of 
Saint-Louis  of  France,  had  engaged  in  the  Fifth  Crusade, 
were  slaughtered  and  driven  into  the  sea  by  the  Moslems 
in  Egypt,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  king  himself  was 
taken  prisoner  and  held  to  ransom.  Thus  at  one  end  of 
the  Mediterranean  the  Cross  was  up  and  the  Crescent  down, 
while  at  the  other  end  the  followers  of  Mahomet  were  tri- 
umphant and  the  followers  of  Christ  were  plunged  into 
overwhelming  disaster. 


CHAPTER  XV 

CASTILE     AND     ARAGON 

A.D.  1284-1469 

KING  SANCHO  reigned  over  Castile  for  eleven  years,  and 
was  followed  by  Ferdinand  the  Fourth,  Alfonso  the  Elev- 
enth, and  Peter  the  Cruel,  who  became  king  in  1330.  Of 
these  three  monarchs  there  is  nothing  to  be  said,  except 
that  the  last  named,  Peter,  was  a  monster  of  cruelty. 

He  loved  killing  people  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  kill- 
ing, and  the  closer  of  kin  they  were  to  him  the  more  he 
enjoyed  putting  them  to  death.  If  he  had  lived  longer 
he  would  have  destroyed  his  whole  family. 

He  married  a  sweet  French  girl,  Blanche  of  Bourbon, 
but  after  the  wedding  he  would  not  live  with  her,  or  even 
see  her.  His  favorite  was  a  black-hearted  Spaniard,  named 
Maria  de  Padilla.  The  queen  had  given  him  as  a  wedding- 
present  a  golden  belt  adorned  with  precious  stones.  Maria 
found  a  Jew  who  was  said  to  be  a  magician  ;  he  contrived 
in  some  way  to  get  the  girdle  off  the  king's  waist  and  to 
put  in  its  place  a  serpent.  When  the  king  saw  it  he  was 
filled  with  horror;  and  Maria  telling  him  that  this  was 
some  of  the  queen's  sorcery  intended  to  injure  him,  he 
thrust  poor  Blanche  into  prison. 

To  hold  her  the  more  safely  he  sent  her  to  Toledo.  But 
the  people  of  that  city,  who  were  turbulent,  as  you  remem- 
ber, and  always  did  their  own  thinking,  took  the  poor  pris- 
oner's side,  turned  out  in  arms,  with  the  king's  brother 
Fadrique  at  their  head,  and  declared  that  no  harm  should 
come  to  Blanche.  Cunning  Peter  answered  them  that  he 
had  never  meant  any  harm  to  his  dear  Blanche;  he  only 
wanted  to  clasp  her  in  his  arms  once  more.  Whereupon 


104  A  CHILD'S  HISTOKY  OF  SPAIN           [1284-1469 

the  people,  not  suspecting  that  the  king  would  tell  a  lie,  let 
him  into  the  place,  and  showed  him  where  Blanche  was. 
He  no  sooner  got  her  in  his  power  than  he  shut  her  up  in 
a  strong  dungeon,  where  he  put  her  to  death. 

Then  he  turned  on  his  brother  Fadrique,  who  had  taken 
Blanche's  part.  Him  he  invited  to  a  tournament  at  Seville. 
When  Fadrique  came,  the  king  appeared  before  him  in  the 
court-yard  of  the  castle  and  ordered  a  man-at-arms  to  cut 
nim  down.  When  you  go  to  Seville  you  will  be  shown 
the  stains  of  his  blood  on  the  stones  of  the  yard.  After  he 
was  dead  Peter  had  his  head  cut  off  and  laid  before  the 
fair  Maria  de  Padilla. 

Shortly  afterwards  another  brother,  Henry,  rebelled 
against  Peter  and  took  the  field  against  him  at  the  head  of 
an  army.  But  Peter  got  Edward  the  Black  Prince  of 
England  to  help  him,  and  won  a  victory  over  the  rebels 
at  Navawete,  on  April  3d,  1367.  After  the  battle  Peter 
began  to  murder  his  prisoners,  which  shocked  the  Black 
Prince,  and  caused  him  to  remonstrate.  Peter  answered, 
simply  : 

"  What's  the  good  of  your  helping  me,  then  ?  If  I  let 
them  go  they  will  join  Henry,  and  all  the  work  will  have 
to  be  done  over  again." 

This  disgusted  the  Black  Prince  so  much  that  he  gath- 
ered his  men  and  marched  off  home. 

Then  the  war  broke  out  again,  and  now  that  the  terrible 
Englishman  was  gone,  victory  generally  sided  with  Henry. 
The  war  ended,  however,  by  a  curious  piece  of  treachery, 
which  may  give  you  some  idea  of  the  laws  of  honor  which 
prevailed  in  that  day. 

Henry  was  in  the  tent  of  his  ally,  the  gallant  French 
general,  Bertrand  Duguesclin,  of  whom  you  have  read  in 
the  History  of  France,  and  who  was  looked  upon  as  a  type 
of  chivalry.  A  message  was  sent  to  Peter,  inviting  him 
into  the  tent,  which  he  accepted  unsuspiciously.  At  first 
Henry  did  not  recognize  him,  though  he  was  his  brother, 
they  had  been  parted  so  long  ;  but  an  attendant  cried  : 


1284-1469]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  105 

"  There  is  your  enemy  !" 

Henry  shouted  : 

"Where  is  the  Jew  who  calls  himself  King  of  Castile?" 

"Here  I  stand,"  answered  Peter,  "the  lawful  king  and 
heir  of  King  Alfonso  ;  'tis  thou  that  art  a  false  pretender." 

With  that  they  grappled  with  each  other,  while  the 
knights,  including  Duguesclin,  stood  looking  on.  Henry 
stabbed  Peter  with  his  poniard  in  the  face,  but  could  not 
pierce  his  body,  which  was  protected  by  a  coat  of  mail. 
Peter  was  the  stronger  and  threw  his  brother  on  a  bench; 
but  one  of  Henry's  men,  seizing  Peter  by  the  leg,  threw 
him  over  on  his  back,  and  Henry  stabbed  him  to  death. 

"Thus  with  mortal  gasp  and  quiver, 

While  the  blood  in  bubhles  welled, 
Fled  the  fiercest  soul  that  ever 
In  a  Christian  bosom  dwelled. " 

After  Peter,  there  was  another  series  of  kings  of  Castile 
— two  Henrys  and  two  Johns — about  whom  there  is  noth- 
ing recorded  that  you  would  care  to  hear,  unless  it  be  an 
expression  of  the  last  John,  who  said  he  "  wished  he  had 
been  born  in  the  hut  of  an  obscure  workman  rather  than 
on  the  throne  of  Castile."  This  John  was  father  to  the 
Isabella  who  became  the  wife  of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon, 
and  Queen,  not  of  Castile,  but  of  Spain. 

Of  Aragon,  I  have  told  you  little.  There  was,  however, 
a  long  list  of  kings  who  reigned  from  the  times  when  Cor- 
dova first  became  the  Moorish  capital  until  the  times  of 
Ferdinand.  Most  of  them  left  no  trace;  there  were  a  few 
who  perhaps  deserve  to  be  remembered.  One  of  these  was 
Jayrne  the  First,  a  poet,  warrior,  and  statesman ;  a  great, 
broad-shouldered,  blue-eyed,  fair-haired  scion  of  the  Goths, 
who  won  thirty  pitched  battles,  founded  two  thousand 
churches,  and  died  in  1276.  Then  there  was  his  son, Peter 
the  Third,  a  wise  monarch,  who  added  Catalonia  and  Va- 
lencia securely  to  Aragon,  and  gave  to  his  people  such  a 


106  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1284-1469 

charter  of  liberty  as  at  that  time  existed  nowhere  else  in  the 
world,  not  even  in  England.  The  motto  of  Aragon  was  : 
"Laws  first,  kings  afterwards !"  For  nothing  was  an  Ara- 
gonese  so  quick  to  draw  the  sword  as  for  any  breach  of  law 
committed  by  his  sovereign.  When  a  king  was  crowned, 
a  noble  addressed  him  : 

"  We,  each  of  whom  is  as  good  as  you,  and  who  alto- 
gether are  more  powerful,  make  you  our  king,  so  long  as 
you  shall  respect  our  charter,  and  no  longer." 

I  am  afraid  that  in  securing  their  own  rights  against  the 
king  the  nobles  of  Aragon  did  not  pay  as  much  attention 
as  they  might  have  done  to  the  rights  of  their  vassals 
against  themselves;  as  the  English  barons  at  Runnymede 
did  not  include  in  their  bill  of  rights  any  guarantees  for 
poor  men  against  oppression  by  King  John  or  by  them- 
selves. 

There  was  a  king  named  Peter  the  Ceremonious,  who 
was  cold  as  a  stone  and  pitiless  as  a  tiger ;  he  reigned  fifty 
years,  and  did  much  to  strengthen  his  kingdom  by  his  calcu- 
lating policy.  And  his  son,  John  the  Careless,  who  reigned 
from  1387  to  1395,  made  Aragon  famous  by  keeping  the 
most  splendid  court  of  Europe.  It  was  under  him  that 
Barcelona  and  Valencia  became  rivals  of  Genoa  and  Venice 
for  the  commerce  of  the  world.  Their  ships  were  to  be 
seen  in  every  ocean,  and  their  storehouses  were  filled  with 
rich  goods  from  every  part  of  the  world.  All  the  great 
islands  of  the  Western  Mediterranean  belonged  at  this 
time  to  Aragon. 

In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  both  Aragon  and 
Castile  were  about  to  be  plunged  into  civil  wars  over  the 
crown.  Both  states  had  grown  so  rich  that  their  thrones 
were  prizes  worth  capturing,  and  it  was  evident  to  wise 
men  that  the  only  security  for  peace  would  be  the  union 
of  the  two  kingdoms  in  one  hand,  strong  enough  to  put 
down  rebellion  and  to  repel  foreign  attack.  These  wise 
men  saw  a  chance  of  realizing  their  hopes  when,  on  April 
22d,  1451,  the  heir  to  the  throne  of  Castile  proved  to  be  a 


1284-1469]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  107 

girl — Isabella;  and  on  March  15th  following  an  heir  to  the 
throne  of  Aragon  was  born,  in  the  person  of  Ferdinand, 
who  was  afterwards  known  as  Ferdinand  the  Catholic. 
Far-seeing  people  discerned  that  these  two  ought  to 
marry. 

They  met  when  Isabella  was  eighteen  and  Ferdinand 
seventeen,  fell  in  love  at  first  sight,  and  the  marriage  con- 
tract was  signed  forthwith.  Ferdinand  was  a  good-looking 
boy,  who  could  ride  well,  talk  fluently,  and  say  pleasant 
things  to  every  one;  his  eyes  were  bright,  his  complexion 
fair.  Isabella  was  blue-eyed,  with  chestnut  hair;  she  was 
almost  a  beauty;  her  figure  was  perfect;  her  manner  was 
gracious,  and  was  marked  by  a  modesty  which  is  not  always 
observed  in  queens.  When  the  marriage  was  arranged 
Isabella  went  to  live  at  Valladolid,  on  the  Douro.  Stories 
reached  Ferdinand's  ear  that  she  ran  some  risk  of  being 
kidnapped  by  one  of  the  many  royal  suitors  who  aspired  to 
her  hand ;  so  without  notice  to  any  one  he  slipped  away, 
with  only  six  attendants,  and  rode  breakneck  to  Valladolid, 
travelling  under  a  feigned  name.  When  he  told  his  fears 
to  his  lady  love,  she  fell  on  his  breast,  declaring  she  would 
not  leave  him  again;  and  accordingly,  on  October  19th, 
1469,  in  the  palace  of  Don  Juan  de  Vivero,  and  in  the 
presence  of  a  party  of  invited  guests,  the  two  children 
were  married.  It  was  not  till  five  years  later  that  the 
wedding  celebration  took  place  at  Segovia,  and  that  a  her- 
ald, after  blowing  his  trumpet,  lustily  proclaimed  : 

"Hear  all  ye  people  of  Castile  and  Aragon,  the  King 
Don  Ferdinand,  and  his  wife,  Dona  Isabella,  are  proprietors- 
sovereign  of  these  kingdoms  !" 

It  is  now  time  that  I  should  tell  you  something  about 
the  Moors,  who  fill  so  large  a  place  in  the  reign  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   MOORS  AT   GRANADA 

A.D.  1250-1476 

WHEN  the  Moors  were  driven  out  of  Andalusia, Valencia, 
and  New  Castile,  they  took  refuge  in  Granada,  and  to  that 
spot  their  countrymen  flocked  from  all  parts  of  Spain. 
They  chose  as  their  caliph,  or  emir,  or  sultan,  or  king — he 
is  called  indifferently  by  all  these  names — a  chief  from  Se- 
ville, named  Ibrahim  Ben  Akmar,  who  was  known  as  the 
red-man,  because  his  complexion  was  fair  and  his  hair 
light.  He  was  a  bold  warrior,  but  he  could  not  hold  his 
own  against  the  Christians,  and  he  thought  it  wiser  to 
pay  them  tribute,  rather  than  continue  the  war.  So  every 
year  he  sent  twelve  thousand  gold  ducats  to  Castile  as  the 
price  of  peace. 

Granada,  his  capital,  was  a  fine  city  when  he  made  it  his 
home,  and  he  spent  enormous  sums  in  beautifying  it.  It 
lay  on  both  banks  of  the  little  river  Darro,  in  the  heart  of 
a  vast  plain  which  was  surrounded  by  lofty  mountains,  so 
tall  that  they  were  generally  capped  with  snow.  The  city, 
which  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  with  twelve  gates  and 
one  thousand  and  forty  towers,  was  built  on  the  sides  of 
two  hills,  which  sloped  to  the  river ;  the  houses,  with  gar- 
dens and  courts,  in  which  oranges,  lemons,  and  pomegran- 
ates grew,  rose  one  above  another  till  the  tops  of  the  hills 
were  reached.  On  the  top  of  one  hill  stood  a  strong  fort 
which  commanded  the  city;  on  the  other  stood  the  fa- 
mous Red  Palace,  or  Alhambra,  of  which,  I  dare  say,  you 
have  heard. 

The  palace  of  the  Alhambra  stood  in  an  enclosure  sur- 
rounded by  a  wall  fifteen  feet  thick,  and  so  high  in  places 


GIRLS  DRAWING  WATER  AT   THE  FOUNTAIN,  TOLKDU 


1250-1476]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  111 

that  from  the  terrace  on  the  summit  of  the  wall  you  can 
look  down  on  the  tops  of  tall  trees  growing  in  the  valley 
beneath.  The  enclosure  was  large  enough  to  have  con- 
tained a  small  city,  but  it  never  enclosed  anything  but 
courts  and  halls,  where  the  Moorish  kings  received  ambas- 
sadors and  transacted  business,  and  splendid  apartments 
where  their  wives  and  children  lived.  It  is  partly  in  ruin 
to-day,  but  enough  remains  to  show  you  what  it  must  have 
been  in  the  days  of  its  glory. 

When  you  go  to  see  it  you  will  pass  under  a  tall  tower 
to  a  gate,  which  is  called  the  Gate  of  Justice.  Here  the 
Caliphs  of  Granada  used  to  sit,  under  a  great  stone  key  and 
a  massive  stone  hand,  to  hear  the  complaints  of  their  peo- 
ple, and  render  justice.  Then  you  pass  into  the  Court  of 
Myrtles,  whose  walls  used  to  be  hidden  by  a  myrtle  hedge. 
Then  comes  another  court,  whose  centre  is  a  lake  in  which 
myriads  of  golden  fish  play;  it  is  still,  so  still  that  you  can 
almost  hear  yourself  breathe.  Then  you  come  to  the  Hall 
of  the  Ambassadors,  with  its  grand  throne  where  the  Caliph 
sat,  its  walls  worked  over  with  tracery,  its  white,  blue,  and 
gold  cornices,  its  lofty  dome  with  stars  on  it  to  imitate  the 
vault  of  heaven.  Under  that  dome  some  of  the  most  fa- 
mous people  of  Europe  used  to  stand,  before  the  days  of 
Columbus,  and  for  a  long  time  after  him. 

In  a  building  near  by  are  the  rooms  where  the  ladies  of 
the  Moorish  court  lived.  The  rooms  were  thickly  carpeted, 
and  under  the  floor  incense  and  perfumes  were  burned,  so 
that  the  luxurious  ladies  should  breathe  sweet  savors  from 
an  unseen  source.  There  were  a  score  of  bath-rooms,  each 
with  a  bath-tub  cut  out  of  a  single  block  of  marble,  and 
on  the  floor  were  rugs  of  cloth-of-gold,  on  which  the  fair 
bather  rested  her  pretty,  bare  feet.  A  fine  metal  tracery, 
representing  stars  and  roses,  let  in  light. 

Another  famous  hall  is  the  Hall  of  Lions,  so  called  be- 
cause the  fountain  in  the  centre  is  surrounded  by  marble 
lions,  who,  in  the  old  days,  poured  water  out  of  their 
mouths.  The  roof  is  a  series  of  arches  resting  on  groups 


112  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN          [1250-1476 

of  white  marble  pillars  ;  it  vaults  from  pillar  to  pillar  with 
fantastic  lightness.  Yet  another  hall,  also  with  a  fountain 
and  basin  in  its  centre,  is  the  Hall  of  the  Abencerrages,  of 
whom  I  will  tell  you  presently. 

To  this  marble  building — under  a  balmy  sky,  breathing 
an  atmosphere  cooled  by  the  snow -caps  of  the  near-by 
mountains  and  scented  by  every  sort  of  fragrant  tree,  plant, 
and  flower,  with  no  noise  to  disturb  the  ear  except  the 
soothing  murmur  of  fountains,  and  with  a  picture  for  tue 
eye  of  an  endless  garden,  with  the  town  of  Granada  in  the 
foreground  and  the  snowy  range  on  the  horizon — the  ca- 
liphs returned  from  their  toils  to  spend  the  evening  with 
dark-eyed  houris,  and  to  listen  to  tender  melodies  and  to 
the  dreamy  music  of  the  lute.  It  must  have  been  the  life 
of  a  Moslem  paradise.  You  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear 
that  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  when  he  went  over  the  Al- 
hambra,  exclaimed  to  his  courtiers: 

"  111  fated  was  the  man  who  lost  all  this." 

The  whole  of  the  wide  plain  of  Granada  had  been  turned 
into  a  garden  by  the  skilful  diversion  of  the  water  of  the 
Xenil  and  the  Darro  into  thousands  of  irrigating  ditches. 
The  Moors  were  famous  for  knowing  the  uses  of  water; 
they  did  not  allow  a  gallon  of  it  to  go  to  waste;  every 
acre  of  their  land  'bore  bounteous  crops  of  grapes,  or  figs, 
or  oranges,  or  lemons,  or  citrons,  or  walnuts,  or  pomegran- 
ates; in  rows  of  mulberry-trees  silk-worms  wove  cocoons, 
which  were  reeled  into  the  finest  silk.  In  the  city  people 
worked  industriously  at  making  steel  weapons  and  cloths, 
and  beautiful  objects  in  gold,  silver,  and  bronze.  It  was 
a  busier  place  than  any  of  the  Christian  cities  in  Spain. 

The  Moorish  nobles  who  lived  there  led  lives  of  culture 
and  splendor.  Schools  flourished,  prose  and  poetry  were 
written;  music  was  played  on  lutes,  science  was  studied. 
Both  sexes  dressed  handsomely;  the  ladies  wore  bracelets 
and  anklets  of  silver  or  gold,  studded  with  emeralds  and 
chrysolites;  they  braided  their  hair  and  fastened  the  braids 
with  jewels,  The  men  dressed  in  spotless  white  coats  of 


1250-1476]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN"  113 

linen,  over  which,  in  winter,  they  threw  cloaks  of  wool  or 
silk  of  the  finest  texture.  The  sheaths  of  their  swords  and 
daggers  were  inlaid  and  adorned  with  gems  ;  their  very 
horses'  trappings  were  of  green  and  crimson  velvet,  on 
which  letters  were  traced  with  gold  and  silver  thread. 
The  masses  of  the  people  were  kept  busily  employed  on 
their  farms  or  in  their  factories.  But  the  noble  Moors 
gave  their  whole  time  to  love  and  war.  They  paid  to 
young  ladies  a  respectful  devotion,  which  I  find  it  difficult 
to  explain  in  a  people  who  locked  their  wives  up  in  harems. 

For  over  two  hundred  years  the  Moors  lived  in  wealth 
and  luxury  at  Granada,  their  only  diversion  from  love- 
making  being  freebooting  forays,  generally  directed  from 
the  town  of  Jaen  against  the  Christian  cities  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. For  all  this  long  stretch  of  time  we  hear  little 
of  their  history  except  a  string  of  names  and  occasionally 
a  story  or  two  which  reads  like  a  legend.  We  are  told 
that  there  were  twenty-three  caliphs  of  Granada,  some  of 
whom  took  the  title  of  king,  and  nearly  all  of  whom  were 
named  Mahomet. 

One  of  the  stories  says  that  the  governor  of  a  Christian 
town  near  the  border  of  Granada  resolved  to  make  a  raid 
upon  the  Moorish  country.  Before  putting  his  men  in  the 
field  he  sent  secretly  a  party  of  horse  to  explore  the  road; 
they  fell  in  with  a  Moorish  courtier  of  fine  appearance, 
whom  they  forthwith  made  prisoner  and  brought  before 
the  governor.  The  young  man  cried  bitterly  when  he  was 
examined,  and  the  governor,  disgusted  at  his  want  of 
manliness,  reproached  him,  saying: 

"  You  are  no  warrior,  but  a  woman,  for  you  weep  like 
one.  Are  you  such  a  coward  as  to  fret  for  your  capture  ?" 

"  It  is  not  the  loss  of  rny  liberty  that  I  lament,"  said  the 
Moor,  "  but  I  have  long  loved  the  daughter  of  an  alcalde 
in  our  neighborhood.  She  loves  me,  and  to-night  was  to 
be  our  wedding  night.  Now  she  is  awaiting  me,  and  will 
think  I  have  deserted  her.  She  will  die  of  despair." 

"  Noble  cavalier,"  said  the  governor,  "  you  touch  my 
8 


114  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  [1250-1476 

heart.  Go  and  see  your  lady;  I  will  take  your  word  that 
you  will  return." 

I  need  not  tell  you  that  the  Moor  rode  fast  and  furious 
to  the  lady's  house.  When  he  told  her  the  story,  she  said: 

"You  must  keep  your  word.  But  I  will  go  with  you. 
I  share  your  fate,  bond  or  free.  And  see,  here  are  jewels 
to  buy  your  ransom." 

Next  morning  the  couple  appeared  before  the  governor, 
and  offered  him  the  jewels.  But  he  would  none  of  them 
from  a  cavalier  so  loyal  and  a  maiden  so  true.  He  had  the 
pair  married  by  a  priest,  loaded  them  with  presents,  and 
sent  them  back  under  escort  to  the  home  of  the  groom. 

Another  story  of  these  times  was  the  legend  of  the 
Abencerrages.  It  is  not  certain  that  it  is  true,  but  the 
Spaniards  believe  it;  when  you  go  to  Spain  you  will 
be  shown  the  stains  of  the  blood  of  the  Abencerrages  on 
the  floor  .of  the  hall  in  the  Alhambra  which  bears  their 
name. 

They  were  a  noble  and  wealthy  family  of  Moors,  who 
were  equally  famous  for  their  valor  and  for  their  mercy. 
They  spent  their  money  in  ransoming  Christian  prisoners, 
and  it  was  said  of  them  that  there  had  never  been  an 
Abencerrage  who  was  a  coward,  or  a  false  husband,  or  a 
faithless  friend.  Between  these  Abencerrages  and  'anoth- 
er Moorish  family,  called  the  Zegris,  a  feud  always  raged. 
The  Zegris  were  as  brave  as  the  Abencerrages  and  as  skil- 
ful in  war,  but  they  had  never  been  known  to  spare  a  pris- 
oner's life,  or  to  say  a  word  of  love  to  a  woman. 

Now  the  Sultan  of  Granada  had  married  a  Zegri  girl. 
She  was  cold  and  cruel,  like  the  men  of  her  tribe,  and  the 
king,  losing  his  love  for  her,  married,  as  the  law  allowed, 
a  Christian  captive  as  his  second  wife.  At  this  the  first 
wife  became  furiously  jealous,  and  called  upon  her  kins- 
men to  avenge  her  wrong;  and  the  Christian  wife  appealed 
to  the  Abencerrages  to  take  her  part,  which  they  promptly 
did. 

It  chanced  that  a  wedding  in  the  nobility  just  then  took 


1230-1476]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  115 

place,  and  the  usual  games  were  given.  At  one  of  the 
games  the  object  was  for  a  rider  on  a  galloping  horse  to 
pierce  with  the  point  of  his  lance  a  ring  "held  in  the  mouth 
of  a  silver  dove  on  the  branch  of  a  tree,  new  rings  being 
supplied  as  fast  as  any  were  pierced.  The  young  men  of 
the  Abencerrages  entered  the  list  in  white  tunics,  embroid- 
ered with  pearls  and  silver;  they  rode  white  horses,  and 
carried  a  shield  on  which  were  a  lion  and  a  shepherdess, 
with  the  legend  "Gentleness  and  Strength."  The  Zegris 
wore  green  tunics,  with  gold  ornaments,  on  horses  covered 
with  gaudy  velvet  trappings.  Their  shield  bore  the  de- 
vice of  a  bloody  cimeter,  with  the  motto  "This  is  my 
law." 

At  the  first  joust  one  of  the  Abencerrages  won  twenty- 
five  rings,  while  the  highest  number  won  by  any  Zegri  was 
five.  The  defeat  drove  the  latter  to  fury,  and  they  vowed 
revenge. 

A  young  Abencerrage  had  loved  a  maiden  named  Zoro- 
aide  before  the  caliph's  son  had  ordered  her  to  become  his 
wife.  He  did  not  cease  to  love  her  when  she  was  taken 
from  him,  and  she  pined  in  secret  for  him  on  the  splendid 
terraces  of  the  Alhamhra.  One  night,  when  he  could  not 
restrain  himself,  the  young  Abencerrage  scaled  the  side  of 
the  castle,  leaped  on  the  terrace,  and  stood  before  his  love. 

She  bade  him  go,  telling  him  that  his  life  depended  on 
his  flight,  and  promising  him  that  every  evening  of  her 
life  she  would  come  to  that  rose-tree  and  mourn  for  him. 

He  went;  but  it  was  too  late.  A  Zegri  had  overheard 
his  voice.  Hastening  to  the  caliph's  son,  the  spy  told  what 
he  had  seen.  The  prince  at  once  summoned  all  the  chiefs 
of  the  Abencerrages  to  the  palace.  When  they  came  they 
were  dragged  to  the  court  of  the  Abencerrages — thirty-six 
in  all — and  the  head  of  every  one  was  cut  off  and  thrown 
into  the  fountain.  The  prince  himself  struck  off  the  head 
of  his  wife's  lover.  The  rest  of  the  broken-hearted  family 
removed  from  Granada. 

In  the  year  1476,  when  the  King  of  Castile  and  Aragon 


116  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1250-1470 

sent  a  messenger  to  Granada  to  collect  his  annual  tribute, 
the  Caliph  Muley  Abul  Hassan  replied  to  the  Castilian  : 

"  Go,  tell  your  master  that  the  emirs  who  agreed  to  pay 
tribute  are  dead.  The  mints  of  Granada  now  coin  nothing 
but  sword-blades." 

King  Ferdinand  pondered  over  the  message.  Then 
learning  that  the  Moors  of  Granada  occupied  fourteen 
cities,  ninety  -  seven  fortified  places,  and  castles  without 
count,  he  said  : 

"  I  will  pick  out  the  seeds  of  this  pomegranate  one  by 
one." 

In  Spanish  the  word  Granada  means  pomegranate. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

ZAHARA  AND  ALHAMA 

A.D.   1481-1482 

MULEY  ABUL  HASSAN,  the  fierce  Moor  who  said  that  his 
mints  coined  nothing  but  sword-blades,  did  not  wait  for 
King  Ferdinand  to  attack  him.  On  a  dark  night,  between 
Christmas  and  New-year,  in  a  storm  of  rain  and  lightning 
and  thunder,  he  suddenly  loomed  up  at  the  head  of  a  large 
force  before  the  Christian  town  and  fort  of  Zahara,  not 
very  far  from  the  town  of  Malaga.  Everybody  in  the 
place,  including  sentinels,  was  asleep.  In  a  silence  only 
broken  by  the  patter  of  the  rain  and  the  roar  of  the  thun- 
der the  Moors  set  their  ladders  against  the  walls  and 
scaled  town  and  castle. 

The  cry  arose  :  "The  Moor  !  The  Moor  !"  But  in  the 
darkness  the  garrison  could  not  find  their  arms  nor  their 
comrades.  They  were  cut  down  by  the  savage  Moors  as 
fast  as  they  groped  their  way  out  of  their  barracks.  All 
— men,  women,  and  children — were  bidden  to  gather  in 
the  square,  and  wait  for  morning  in  their  night-clothes  in 
the  cold  rain.  When  day  dawned  they  were  marched  to 
Granada  under  an  escort  of  troops,  and  prodded  with 
spear-points  when  they  slackened  their  gait.  Muley  Abul 
Hassan  followed  after  them  with  a  string  of  mules  laden 
with  the  plunder  of  Zahara. 

But  the  conqueror  was  not  received  at  his  home  with 
the  welcome  be  expected.  The  Moors  were  a  wise  people; 
they  foresaw  that  this  raid  on  a  Christian  town  boded 
trouble  in  the  future.  A  dervish  paced  the  streets,  groan- 
ing aloud  :  "  Woe  to  Granada  !  The  hour  of  its  destruction 
is  at  hand  !  The  ruins  of  Zahara  will  fall  on  our  heads  !" 


118  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1481-1482 

In  Christian  Spain  the  news  of  the  Moorish  capture  of 
Zahara  roused  the  people  to  fury.  They  clamored  for  war 
on  the  infidel.  The  first  one  to  act  was  a  valiant  knight 
named  Ponce  de  Leon,  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz.  He  gath- 
ered a  body  of  fighting  men  and  promised  them  that 
Zahara  should  be  avenged.  Not  far  from  his  chief  castle 
was  the  Moorish  fortified  town  of  Alhama,  on  the  top  of  a 
hill,  about  twenty-five  miles  from  Granada.  It  was  the 
town  which  was  shattered  by  an  earthquake  a  few  years 
ago.  To  spy  out  this  place  he  sent  a  trusty  officer,  who 
walked  round  it  at  night,  measured  the  walls,  peered  over 
the  heights,  counted  the  sentries.  Then  the  marquis  start- 
ed out. 

With  four  thousand  foot  and  three  thousand  horse  he 
set  forth  from  his  town  of  Marchena  on  a  dark  February 
night.  The  little  army  crept  cautiously,  lay  hid  all  day, 
and  lit  no  fires  at  night ;  so  that  a  little  after  midnight  of 
the  third  march  they  reached  Alhama  without  having 
been  seen  by  a  single  Moor.  Ladders  were  quickly  set 
against  the  citadel,  and  it  was  taken  by  storm  before  the 
garrison  had  any  idea  that  an  enemy  was  near.  The 
Moors  in  the  town  resisted  for  a  while,  but  so  many  of 
them  were  shot  down  from  the  citadel — gunpowder  was 
then  used  for  the  first  time  in  the  Spanish  wars — that  the 
rest  surrendered. 

There  is  a  story  of  the  assault  which  will  show  you  that 
the  fighters  of  this  period,  fierce  and  cruel  as  they  often 
were  in  battle,  had  still  on  occasion  the  instincts  of  gentle- 
men. In  leading  the  attack  on  the  castle  the  marquis 
broke  into  room  after  room,  and  found  himself  unexpect- 
edly in  the  chamber  where  the  Moorish  governor's  wife  was 
in  bed.  She  shrieked,  wrapped  the  clothes  round  her,  and 
begged  for  life. 

"Madam,"  said  the  marquis,  "fear  nothing.  You  are 
in  the  hands  of  a  Spanish  gentleman." 

And  when  her  maids  came  running  in  presently  scream- 
ing, with  half  a  dozen  soldiers  at  their  heels  pursuing 


14S1-H82]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  119 

them,  the  marquis  drove  his  men  out  at  the  point  of  the 
sword,  and  set  a  trusty  guard  at  the  door  of  the  lady,  with 
orders  to  cut  down  any  one  who  attempted  to  enter. 

Alhama  was  one  of  the  richest  and  strongest  towns  in 
Spain.  It  was  so  strong  a  place  that  the  Moors  had  used 
it  as  a  storehouse.  It  contained  quantities  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver and  gems  and  rich  silks  and  grain  and  oil  and  honey, 
besides  numbers  of  horses  and  cattle.  All  this  was  now 
given  up  to  plunder  by  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz,  and  the 
Moors — men,  women,  and  children — were  sold  as  slaves. 
Zahara  was  indeed  avenged. 

When  the  news  reached  Granada  the  people  cursed  the 
Caliph. 

"  Accursed  be  the  day,"  they  said,  "  that  thou  hast  lit 
the  flames  of  war.  On  thy  head  and  on  thy  children's 
heads  rest  the  sin  of  Zahara  !" 

The  old  ballad  "  Ay  de  mi  Alhama,"  which  Spanish 
girls  sometimes  sing  to  this  day,  tells  the  story  : 

"  Letters  to  the  monarch  tell 
How  Albania's  city  fell ; 
In  the  fire  the  scroll  he  threw, 
And  the  messenger  he  slew. 

Woe  is  me,  Alhama!" 

But  Muley  Abul  Hassan  was  not  the  man  to  content 
himself  with  groaning  over  disaster.  He  called  the  Moors 
to  arms  and-  marched-  swiftly  to  Alhama  to  retake  the 
place.  The  garrison  was  ready  for  him,  and  beat  his 
forces  back  with  great  loss.  He  sat  down  before  the 
place  raging  with  disappointment,  and  yet  resolved  to  suc- 
ceed. 

Now  the  fort  and  town  of  Alhama  had  no  water  supply 
except  what  it  got  from  a  little  stream  running  past  the 
base  of  the  hill.  There  were  a  few  wells  in  the  place,  but 
they  soon  ran  dry.  And  then  the  Moors  diverted  the 
water  of  the  stream,  so  that  the  Christians  could  not  get 
water  without  passing  through  the  Moorish  camp.  The 


120  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1481-1482 

throats  of  the  soldiers  dried  till  they  could  hardly  speak; 
some  died,  others  went  mad  from  thirst. 

Christian  knights,  among  others  Don  Alfonso  de  Aguilar, 
tried  to  raise  the  siege,  but  they  were  beaten  back  by  the 
Moors.  Muley  Abul  Hassan  stroked  his  beard,  and  feast- 
ed his  hungry  eyes  with  the  sight  of  the  Christians  on  the 
battlements,  knowing  they  were  doomed  and  must  pres- 
ently surrender.  There  was  but  one  man  who  could  save 
them;  that  was  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  and  he  was 
at  deadly  feud  with  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz,  and  was  not 
likely  to  help  his  enemy. 

When  the  duke  heard  of  the  trouble  in  which  his  old 
foe  stood  he  said  it  was  no  concern  of  his.  But  when  the 
wife  of  the  marquis  fell  at  his  feet,  with  tears  flowing 
from  her  beautiful  eyes,  and  besought  him,  in  a  voice 
broken  by  sobs,  not  to  allow  her  noble  husband  to  be 
butchered  by  the  infidel,  but  to  go  to  his  aid,  for  the  sake 
of  his  honor  and  of  knightly  chivalry,  the  duke, in  a  voice 
like  thunder,  commanded  his  horse  to  be  saddled,  and  bade 
his  squire  blow  the  war  bugle,  and  to  keep  on  blowing  it 
as  long  as  he  had  a  breath  in  his  body.  His  people  were 
quite  ready  to  march.  Every  man  of  them  felt  that  the 
day  had  come  to  settle  the  question  whether  Spain  should 
be  Christian  or  Moslem. 

Messengers  were  sent  to  every  town  and  fortress,  east 
and  west,  and  north  and  south,  to  send  all  the  troops  they 
could  spare  to  Seville,  and  just  as  the  marquis's  men  were 
reduced  to  such  straits  that  they  had  to  make  sallies  to 
get  a  little  water,  and  paid  for  every  drop  of  it  with  a 
drop  of  their  blood,  the  duke  marched  out  of  Seville  with 
fifty  thousand  fighting  men  and  a  long  army  of  gallant 
knights  from  every  part  of  Andalusia. 

King  Ferdinand  was  in  Castile  when  he  heard  of  the 
siege  of  Alhama;  he  rode  south  on  relays  of  horses,  hard- 
ly taking  time  to  sleep.  When  he  reached  Cordova  he 
despatched  messengers  to  Medina  Sidonia,  bidding  him 
to  await  his  coming.  But  the  peril  was  too  pressing. 


U81-14S2]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  121 

The  duke's  personal  enemy  was  dying  of  thirst.  He  sent 
word  to  the  king  that  he  would  not  wait.  He  would 
march,  and  would  not  tarry  an  hour  nor  the  tenth  part  of 
a  minute  by  the  way  for  king  or  devil. 

When  Muley  heard  of  his  coming  he  made  one  more  at- 
tempt to  storm  the  place.  A  band  of  picked  Moorish  war- 
riors attacked  it  on  a  side  thus  far  untried,  and  seventy  of 
them  actually  got  into  the  town.  But  they  were  quickly 
surrounded,  and  though  they  formed  back-to-back,  with 
the  Moorish  flag  in  the  centre,  and  fought  like  heroes  or 
demons,  they  were  all  killed,  and  their  heads  were  thrown 
over  the  wall  to  their  friends  outside.  Then  Muley  Abul 
Hassan,  tearing  his  beard  in  his  rage,  and  knowing  that  if 
he  waited  till  Medina  Sidonia  came  up  he  would  be  caught 
between  two  fires,  sullenly  drew  off  his  army  and  aban- 
doned Alhama  to  the  Christians  forever.  I  need  not  tell 
you  of  the  joy  with  which  the  duke  was  received  by  the 
garrison.  Ponce  de  Leon  fell  upon  his  neck;  and  these 
two  fierce  warriors,  who  thought  nothing  of  killing  an 
enemy  in  battle,  threw  their  arms  round  each  other  and 
cried  like  girls.  Ever  after  that  day  they  were  brothers- 
in-arms. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

BORDER  WARFARE 

A.D.  1483 

EXULTING  over  his  victory  over  the  Moors,  the  Marquis 
of  Cadiz  pined  for  greater  triumphs.  He  fixed  his  eye  on 
Malaga,  the  great  seaport  on  the  Mediterranean,  where  the 
foreign  trade  of  the  Moors  was  carried  on.  This  would  be 
a  nobler  prize  than  Alhama. 

Malaga  was  divided  from  Antequera,  where  the  marquis 
mustered  his  force,  by  a  ridge  of  lofty  and  rugged  mount- 
ains, cut  at  intervals  by  rocky  valleys  and  the  beds  of  dead 
rivers,  which  were  the  only  passes.  On  either  side  of  these 
valleys  and  gulches  cliffs  rose,  sometimes  with  very  steep 
sides;  from  these  cliffs  great  pieces  of  rock  and  bowlders, 
detached  by  storm  or  earthquake,  had  rolled  down,  par- 
tially blocking  the  path  at  their  base.  It  was  over  this 
difficult  road  that  Ponce  de  Leon  led  his  men  to  the  attack 
of  Malaga.  It  was  a  road  almost  impassable  for  cavalry. 

He  had  hoped  to  get  through  the  mountains  and  to  reach 
the  plain  on  which  Malaga  stands  before  the  Moors  dis- 
covered his  purpose  ;  but  it  seems  they  were  informed  of 
it  before  he  set  out;  for  on  the  second  night,  as  his  army 
in  close  file  was  slowly  and  painfully  working  its  way 
through  a  narrow  pass,  man  and  horse  stumbling  over  the 
rough  stones,  and  sometimes  tumbling  into  clefts  by  the 
road-side,  lights  flashed  out  on  the  top  of  the  heights  above 
the  pass,  and  a  shower  of  stones  and  darts  rained  upon  the 
Christians.  In  a  little  while  they  found  they  could  neither 
advance  nor  retreat,  for  the  narrow  pass  was  blocked  in 
front  of  them  and  behind  them  with  the  bodies  of  the 
soldiers  who  had  been  killed  by  the  stones  and  darts. 


1483]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN"  123 

When  day  dawned  they  found  that  they  were  caught  in  a 
trap.  They  were  being  slowly  cut  off  by  an  enemy  at 
whom  they  could  not  strike  back. 

A  guide  pretended  to  show  them  another  pass  through 
the  range,  but  it  was  no  better  than  the  first.  The  Moors 
were  still  above  them  on  the  top  of  crags,  pelting  them 
with  bowlders  and  fragments  of  rock.  After  vainly  try- 
ing to  find  a  safe  road  in  any  direction,  the  army  scattered, 
and  every  man  sought  safety  for  himself.  Numbers  of 
them  were  lost  and -perished  miserably  in  the  rocks;  some 
fell  over  precipices,  some  were  killed,  others  made  prison- 
ers by  the  Moors.  And  so  ended  the  wretched  expedition 
against  Malaga. 

But  though  the  Moors  won  the  day,  they  had  cares 
enough  from  another  source  to  prevent  their  being  extrav- 
agantly happy.  Muley  Abul  Hassan  had  two  wives.  One, 
Ayesha,  was  of  his  own  kin,  and  was  the  wife  of  his  youth. 
She  had  a  son  named  Boabdil,  who  at  the  time  of  the  rup- 
ture with  the  Christians  was  grown  up.  The  other  wife, 
Zoraya,had  been  a  Christian,  taken  prisoner  in  battle  ;  she 
was  surpassingly  beautiful,  and  became  the  sultan's  favor- 
ite. She  had  two  sons,  who  were  babies  ;  but  she  hoped 
they  would  grow  up  to  succeed  their  father,  while  Ayesha, 
who  was  jealous  of  Zoraya,  determined  that  her  son  Boab- 
dil should  succeed. 

When  Muley  Abul  Hassan  returned  baffled  from  Alha- 
ma,  he  was  received  at  Granada  with  groans  and  curses. 
The  old  dervish  went  round  predicting  disaster  more  shriek- 
ingly  than  ever.  The  king,  wearied  with  the  clamor,  went 
with  Zoraya  to  a  country-house  in  search  of  peace.  He 
had  only  spent  a  few  hours  there  when,  just  at  nightfall, 
he  heard  a  strange  sound  rising  from  Granada  like  the 
gathering  of  a  storm.  Presently  a  messenger,  who  had 
ridden  at  wild  speed,  told  him  that  a  rebellion  had  broken 
out  in  the  city,  and  that  the  people  had  proclaimed  his  son, 
Boabdil,  king  in  his  stead. 

As  full  of  fight  as  ever,  the  king  put  himself  at  the  head 


124  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  [1483 

of  his  guards,  and  with  his  vizier,  Abul  Cacim,  tried  to 
break  into  the  Alhambra,  but  was  driven  back  and  chased 
out  of  the  city. 

"God  is  great,"  said  he;  "let  us  bow  to  what  is  written 
in  the  book  of  fate." 

So  he  rode  off  to  a  castle  where  he  had  friends,  and  left 
his  son  on  the  throne  at  Granada.  Just  to  show  that  he 
was  not  dead,  he  headed  a  foray  into  the  territory  of  the 
Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  and  carried  off  booty  and  cattle. 

This  set  the  Granadans  to  murmuring  at  the  sloth  of  their 
new  king,  Boabdil,  whom  they  called  The  Little;  and  the 
king's  mother,  Ayesha,  who  had  spurred  him  to  seize  his 
father's  throne,  joining  in  reproaching  him  for  his  slug- 
gishness, he  resolved  to  do  something  for  glory.  He  call- 
ed his  men  to  arms,  nine  thousand  of  them  in  all,  and 
among  them  the  flower  of  the  Moorish  chivalry.  His 
mother  girded  on  his  cimeter  with  her  own  hands,  and 
when  his  wife  cried  at  the  parting,  the  fierce  old  woman 
rebuked  her  : 

"Why  dost  thou  weep?  These  tears  become  not  the 
daughter  of  a  warrior,  nor  the  wife  of  a  king.  Believe 
me,  there  often  lurks  more  danger  for  a  monarch  within 
the  strong  walls  of  a  palace  than  within  the  frail  curtains 
of  a  tent." 

Boabdil  sallied  forth  from  Granada  in  grand  array.  His 
horse  was  black  and  white  ;  on  his  breast  he  wore  a  steel 
corselet  with  gold  nails,  and  on  his  head  a  steel  casque 
richly  engraved.  On  his  back  he  bore  a  shield ;  over  his 
saddle  hung  a  cimeter  of  Damascus,  and  in  his  hand  he 
carried  a  long  lance.  But  the  troops,  who  admired  his  fine 
appearance,  were  rather  taken  aback  when  a  fox  ran  out 
of  a  thicket  and  scurried  through  the  ranks  of  the  army, 
pressing  close  to  the  king  without  being  touched  by  any 
of  the  missiles  which  were  thrown  at  it.  Like  the  Spaniards, 
the  Moors  were  superstitious.  They  marched  swiftly,  how- 
ever, and  presently,  having  been  reinforced  by  AH  Atar, 
Boabdil's  father-in-law,  a  veteran  of  nearly  ninety,  who 


1483]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  125 

had  spent  his  life  in  fighting  the  Christians,  they  came  to 
a  stand  over  against  the  Christian  town  of  Lucena. 

They  had  been  seen  coming.  On  the  night  of  April 
20th,  1483,  as  Don  Diego  de  Cordova,  Count  of  Cabra,  was 
going  to  bed,  his  watchman  brought  him  word  that  the 
beacon-fires  were  lit  on  the  mountain-tops.  He  knew  what 
this  meant.  There  was  no  rest  that  night  in  his  castle 
of  Vaena,  or  in  the  town  adjoining.  By  daylight  the 
count  marched  forth  at  the  head  of  fifteen  hundred  men, 
taking  the  direction  of  the  frontier.  Word  soon  reached 
him  that  Lucena  was  the  place  threatened,  and  he  made 
for  it  with  all  speed.  When  he  got  there  he  found  the 
Moors  gone.  They  had  collected  such  a  quantity  of  plun- 
der that  they  had  started  homeward  to  divide  it.  Ninety- 
year-old  Ali  wanted  to  burn  Lucena  and  slay  all  the 
people  ;  but  the  soldiers  preferred  saving  their  booty  to 
fighting. 

The  Count  of  Cabra,  not  paying  the  least  heed  to  thos« 
who  warned  him  that  the  Moors  were  six  or  seven  times  as 
numerous  as  his  force,  and  who  wanted  him  to  wait  for 
reinforcements,  spurred  after  them.  He  found  them  in  a 
valley  near  a  little  stream  which  the  heavy  rain  had  swol- 
len into  a  torrent.  They  were  eating  their  dinner  with 
great  content. 

"  By  Santiago,"  said  the  count,  "  if  we  had  waited  for 
reinforcements  the  Moors  would  have  escaped  us." 

And  he  flung  his  cavaliers  on  the  enemy.  It  is  not  easy 
to  understand  the  battle,  or  how  fifteen  hundred  Christians 
could  overcome  nine  thousand  Moors.  I  suppose  the  latter 
were  badly  handled,  and  that  Boabdil  did  not  understand 
the  business  of  war.  Many  of  the  Moors  thought  they  had 
got  what  they  wanted,  and  that  the  best  thing  was  to  go 
home.  As  the  battle  began  a  dense  fog  settled  on  the  field, 
and  it  seems  to  have  confused  the  Moors  more  than  the 
Christians.  The  former  fought  with  their  backs  to  the 
torrent  I  have  mentioned;  when  they  were  pushed  they 
backed  into  the  torrent,  lost  their  footing,  and  many 


126  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1483 

were  drowned.  In  this  and  other  ways  the  battle  was 
lost. 

King  Boabdil  fell  back  with  tlie  others;  his  horse  being 
shot,  he  was  on  foot.  Afraid  that  his  grand  costume  would 
attract  shots  or  arrows,  he  hid  in  a  clump  of  willows, 
where  he  remained  until  a  Spanish  cavalier  detected  him. 
He  cried  for  quarter,  saying  that  he  was  a  man  of  family 
and  would  pay  a  rich  ransom.  A  quarrel  then  arose  be- 
tween the  soldiers  as  to  whose  prisoner  he  was;  but  the 
Count  of  Cabra  happening  to  ride  up,  the  king  surrendered 
to  him,  without,  however,  saying  who  he  was.  The  count 
accepted  him,  put  a  red  band  round  his  neck  to  signify 
that  he  was  a  prisoner,  and  sent  him  off  under  escort  to  his 
quarters.  It  was  not  till  three  days  afterwards  that  the 
count  knew  that  his  prisoner  was  the  King  of  Granada. 

On  the  day  after  the  battle  the  Moorish  people  of  Loxa, 
who  had  been  straining  their  eyes  all  day  for  the  return  of 
the  king  and  his  army,  saw  one  horseman  approaching  on 
the  borders  of  the  Xenil.  When  he  reached  the  city  his 
horse,  which  had  carried  him  swiftly  so  far,  fell  dead.  The 
rider's  face  was  so  sad  that  at  first  no  one  dared  accost 
him.  At  last  an  old  man  asked  : 

"How  fares  it  with  the  king  and  the  army?" 

"There  they  lie!"  answered  the  horseman,  pointing  to 
the  hills.  "All  lost!  all  dead  !" 

And  he  mounted  another  horse,  while  the  people  wailed; 
he  shook  his  head  and  rode  on  and  on  to  Granada.  There 
he  told  his  wretched  story  to  the  people;  and  still  riding 
on  and  on,  he  did  not  draw  rein  till  he  stood  at  the  Gate  of 
Justice,  in  the  Alhambra. 

The  wife  of  Boabdil  flung  herself  on  the  ground,  weep- 
ing, and  had  to  be  carried  to  her  apartments;  but  the 
stern  old  mother  shed  never  a  tear.  She  only  said  : 

"  It  is  the  will  of  Allah." 

The  minstrels  came  with  their  lutes  to  sing  and  play  for 
the  harem,  but  their  song  was  attuned  to  the  sorrows  of 
the  hour.  They  sang  : 


1483]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  127 

"Beautiful  Granada  !  Why  is  the  Alhambra  so  lorn 
and  desolate  ?  The  orange  and  myrtle  still  breathe  their 
perfumes  into  its  silken  chambers  ;»  the  nightingale  still 
sings  within  its  groves ;  its  marble  halls  are  still  refreshed 
with  the  plash  of  fountains  and  the  gusli  of  liquid  rills. 
Alas  !  alas  !  The  countenance  of  the  king  no  longer  shines 
within  these  halls.  The  light  of  the  Alhambra  is  set  for- 
ever." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE   FALL    OF   MALAGA 

A.D.  1483—1488 

WHEN  King  Ferdinand  learned  that  the  Moorish  king 
was  a  prisoner  he  was  puzzled  to  know  what  to  do  with 
him.  Happily  he  had  at  his  right  hand  one  who  was 
wiser  and  stronger- minded  than  he.  This  was  his  wife, 
Isabella.  For  some  time  she  had  been  residing  at  Seville, 
and  though  she  was  barely  thirty,  she  had  presided  over 
the  royal  court  of  justice  there,  had  heard  cases,  and 
decided  them  wisely.  The  king  had  learned  to  lean  upon 
her  judgment  for  counsel.  She  now  advised  that  Boabdil 
be  released,  on  condition  of  his  paying  the  old  tribute  to 
the  King  of  Castile,  and  of  setting  free  a  certain  number  of 
captives.  The  prisoner  readily  agreed  to  these  terms,  and 
started  for  Granada. 

But  Boabdil  had  not  heard  the  news  from  his  capital. 
No  sooner  had  his  capture  by  the  Christians  become  known 
there  than  his  fiery  old  father  dashed  into  the  place  at  the 
head  of  his  troopers,  proclaimed  that  he  was  king  once 
more,  and  camped  in  the  Alhambra.  Boabdil's  mother, 
Ayesha,  he  drove  out  of  the  palace,  and  bade  her  find  lodg- 
ings in  the  quarter  where  the  workmen  lived.  She,  who  was 
as  fierce  as  her  husband,  barricaded  herself  in  the  quarter 
which  had  been  assigned  her,  seized  one  of  the  gates  of 
the  city,  and  bade  defiance  to  Muley.  When  Boabdil,  who 
lhad  left  Granada  in  such  glory  and  splendor,  came  creep- 
ing back  under  cover  of  night,  cowering  and  quaking 
from  fear  of  his  terrible  father,  she  let  him  in,  flung  her- 
self on  his  neck,  called  the  workmen  to  his  support,  and 
told  him  : 


1483-1488]  A  CHILD'S  IIISTORY  OF  SPAIN  129 

"  It  depends  on  thyself  whether  thou  wilt  remain  here  a 
king  or  a  captive." 

When  day  dawned  and  old  Muley  Abul  Hassan  heard 
that  his  son  was  back  he  foamed  with  rage  and  summoned 
his  fighting  men.  Ayesha  summoned  hers,  and  the  two 
parties — father  against  son — fought  all  day  in  the  streets. 
When  night  came  Boabdil  cried  "Enough  !"  and  ran  away 
to  live  at  Almeria,  his  mother  taunting  him  as  he  went 
with  the  jibe  that  a  man  was  not  worthy  of  being  called  a 
king  who  could  not  hold  his  own  capital  city. 

King  Ferdinand's  hope  for  peace  and  a  revival  of  tribute 
were  ended  when  Boabdil  was  overthrown ;  so  he  began 
again  to  raid  the  Moorish  country,  to  carry  off  booty,  and 
to  make  slaves  of  the  Moors.  At  first  Muley  Abul  Hassan 
watched  him  from  the  highest  tower  of  the  Alhambra, 
growling  like  a  tiger  and  grinding  his  teeth,  because  he 
could  not  trust  his  troops;  but  at  last  a  body  of  them 
were  collected  who  were  willing  to  follow  the  Christian 
example  of  fighting  for  plunder,  and  they  raided  Anda- 
lusia, while  Ferdinand  raided  the  plain  or  vega  of  Granada. 
I  do  not  think  that  you  can  feel  much  sympathy  for  either. 
There  was  very  little  fighting  done  in  comparison  with 
the  amount  of  robbing.  The  chief  sufferers  by  the  war 
were  the  poor  peasants  and  residents  of  small  towns  and 
villages,  who  lost  everything  they  had,  and  saw  their 
children  carried  off  to  be  sold  as  slaves,  Moors  by  Chris- 
tians, Christians  by  Moors.  It  could  not  have  mattered 
much  to  them  whether  they  were  despoiled  by  Moslems 
or  Christians.  Whichever  race  it  was,  the  peasant  lost  his 
wheat  crop,  his  vines,  his  orchard,  his  orange  and  olive 
grove,  and  his  sons  and  daughters. 

But  the  Christians  had  the  advantage  in  this  border  war- 
fare. King  Ferdinand  took  town  after  town,  castle  after 
castle,  village  after  village,  and  what  he  took  he  kept. 
Muley  Abul  Hassan  took  few  places,  and  those  he  did 
take  were  quickly  wrenched  out  of  his  grasp.  During 
the  whole  of  the  year  1484  the  Moorish  territory  was 
9 


130  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1483-1488 

gradually  growing  narrower  and  the  Spanish  territory 
wider. 

Moreover,  from  repeated  defeat,  the  Moors  were  losing 
heart.  The  old  king,  who  had  spent  such  a  life  of  toil 
and  battle,  became  blind  and  bedridden.  His  son  Boabdil, 
who  was  always  conspiring  against  him,  was  chased  out 
of  the  kingdom  by  his  uncle,  El  Zagal,  and  forced  to  take 
refuge,  like  an  outcast,  with  the  Christians  at  Cordova. 
When  El  Zagal  appeared  at  Almeria  to  seize  him,  Queen 
Ayesha  intrepidly  faced  him,  and  called  him  a  perfidious 
traitor.  So  El  Zagal  thrust  her  into  prison,  and  made  an 
end  of  her  for  the  time. 

Meanwhile,  in  May,  1486,  King  Ferdinand  assembled  at 
Cordova  an  army  of  twelve  thousand  horse,  forty  thousand 
foot  soldiers  armed  with  cross-bows,  lances,  and  arquebuses, 
and  a  park  of  heavy  cannon,  which  were  then  called  Lom- 
bards. With  these  he  marched  down  against  the  Moorish 
strongholds  in  Southern  Spain  lying  back  of  Malaga.  He 
took  them  all,  one  after  the  other — Loxa,  Illora,  Moclin,  and 
others  ;  thus  gradually,  by  slow  degrees,  he  encircled  Mal- 
aga in  his  grip. 

Malaga  lies  on  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  is 
backed  up  against  a  range  of  sloping  mountains,  whose 
sides  are  clothed  with  the  vines  bearing  Malaga  grapes, 
which  I  dare  say  you  have  eaten,  and  with  fragrant  plan- 
tations of  oranges,  lemons,  olives,  and  pomegranates.  Five 
hundred  years  ago  two  of  the  heights  behind  the  city 
were  crowned,  the  one  with  the  citadel  and  the  other  with 
a  fort  called  the  Gibralfaro.  The  latter,  which  was  a 
strong  work,  was  commanded  by  a  dark  and  fierce  -  eyed 
Moor,  who  was  known  as  Hamet  el  Zegri,  and  garrisoned 
with  Moors  fresh  from  Africa.  Round  the  town  itself  ran 
a  high  wall  with  tall  towers  at  intervals. 

Ferdinand  fired  his  heavy  guns  at  the  towers,  and  pres- 
ently made  a  breach  through  one  of  them  by  which  some 
of  his  troops  entered  ;  but  the  Moors  attacked  them  with 
heavy  stones  and  boiling  pitch,  and  undermined  the  tower 


1483-1488]  A   CHILD'S   HISTOKY    OF   SPAIN  131 

which  the  Christians  had  taken,  so  that  it  fell  in.  Then 
the  Marquis  of  Cadiz  massed  his  men  to  storm  Gibralfaro, 
but  the  Moors  sallied  forth  at  night,  swooped  upon  the 
enemy  with  such  fury  and  threw  so  many  down  the  cliff- 
side  that  the  stormers  drew  off  with  sore  heads.  Then 
the  Christians  undertook  to  undermine  the  walls.  Hamet 
found  it  out  and  dug  countermines,  so  that  sometimes  one 
tunnel  would  run  into  another,  and  Christian  and  Moor 
would  engage  in  a  death-grapple  under  the  ground. 

Ferdinand  held  the  sea,  and  Malaga  could  get  no  food 
from  outside.  Hamet  had  seized  all  the  food  in  the  city 
for  the  use  of  his  soldiers,  doling  out  to  them  a  quarter  of  a 
pound  of  bread  in. the  morning,  and  half  as  much  at  night. 
Women  and  children  ate  what  they  could  get  —  the  flesh 
of  horses  and  stray  remains  of  dried  fruits.  And  all  the 
while  they  saw  ships  arriving  with  grain  for  the  Chris- 
tians, and  droves  of  cattle  slowly  winding  over  the  hills. 
Queen  Isabella,  who  had  joined  her  husband  in  camp,  was 
touched  by  the  stories  of  suffering  in  Malaga,  and  sent 
word  that  the  most  liberal  terms  would  be  granted  in  case 
of  surrender.  But  Hamet  el  Zegri  replied  that  he  had 
only  begun  the  fight,  and  that  the  sooner  King  Ferdinand 
raised  the  siege  the  better  it  would  be  for  him.  Numbers 
of  citizens  were  ready  to  surrender,  but  Hamet  threatened 
them  with  death  if  they  spoke. 

After  a  time  the  fathers  of  starving  families  climbed  up 
the  rock  of  Gibralfaro,  and  besought  the  Moorish  chief  not 
to  doom  so  many  to  die  of  hunger.  He  replied  that  the 
day  of  deliverance  was  at  hand.  All  he  asked  was  a  little 
patience.  It  seems  he  had  on  his  staff  a  crazy  dervish,  who 
pretended  to  be  an  astrologer;  this  astrologer  said  that  it 
had  been  revealed  to  him  by  the  stars  that  an  attack  made 
upon  the  Christians  on  a  certain  day,  he  leading  the  Moors 
with  a  certain  white  flag  in  his  hand,  was  certain  to  make 
an  end  of  the  Spanish  army. 

Accordingly,  on  the  day  set,  the  dervish  led  the  way 
with  his  white  flag,  and  the  whole  Moslem  army  in  brave 


132  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1483-1488 

array  sallied  forth  and  fell  upon  the  Spaniards.  It  was  a 
foolhardy  enterprise.  The  Christians  were  at  first  taken  by 
surprise,  but  they  recovered  their  wits,  and  attacked  the 
Moors  with  such  fury  that  hundreds  of  them  were  slain 
and  the  rest  driven  back,  wounded  and  bruised,  into  Malaga. 
The  crazy  dervish  had  his  poor  sick  brains  knocked  out  by 
a  stone. 

The  city  of  Malaga  then  surrendered,  and  the  starving 
people  were  abundantly  supplied  with  food  from  King 
Ferdinand's  stores.  Hamet  el  Zegri  shut  himself  up  in 
his  castle  of  Gibralfaro.  But  the  Africans  had  suffered 
so  dreadfully  from  battle,  hunger,  and  fatigue  that  there 
was  a  dangerous  light  in  their  eyes;  and  when  they  bade 
Hamet  ask  terms  of  surrender,  he  did  not  keep  them  wait- 
ing. He  wanted  to  make  special  terms  for  himself  and  his 
men;  but  Ferdinand,  like  some  one  else  whom  you  will 
remember,  answered  that  the  only  terms  he  would  accept 
were  unconditional  surrender.  And  those  were  the  terms 
settled.  Hamet  was  imprisoned  for  life.  His  Moors  were 
all  sold  as  slaves  but  one. 

That  one  was  Ibraham  Zenete.  I  must  close  this  chapter 
with  the  reason  why,  of  all  that  band,  Zenete  alone  was 
spared. 

When  Hamet  el  Zegri  made  his  great  sortie  from  Malaga, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  crazy  dervish,  Zenete  led  the  ad- 
vance. In  leading  the  van,  he  broke  into  a  house  which 
was  occupied  by  Spanish  officers,  and  in  a  room  in  that 
house  he  found  three  Spanish  boys  in  a  bed  sleeping.  He 
struck  them  sharply  with  the  flat  of  his  sword,  and  cried  : 

"  Away  to  your  mothers,  brats  !" 

"  Why,"  said  a  Moorish  officer,  "  do  you  not  kill  the 
Christian  dogs?" 

"Because,"  replied  Zenete,  "I  see  no  beards  on  their 
faces." 

This  was  accounted  so  chivalrous  an  act  that  King  Fer- 
dinand declared  a  Castilian  hidalgo  could  not  have  been 
more  high-minded  ;  and  this  was  why,  when  all  his  com- 


1483-1488]  A   CHILD'S   HISTORY   OF   SPAIN  133 

rades  were  sold  into  slavery,  Zenete  was  forgiven  and  set 
at  liberty. 

Malaga  fell  in  the  year  1488;  and  when  it  fell,  as  the 
Moorish  saying  went,  the  eye  of  Granada  was  plucked 
out. 


CHAPTER   XX 

THE   FALL   OF   GRANADA 

A.D.  1488-1492 

KING  FERDINAND  found  in  Malaga,  after  the  surrender, 
sixteen  hundred  Christians,  men  and  women,  many  of 
whom  had  been  years  in  captivity;  some  with  shackles  on 
their  legs,  with  long  hair  matted  and  uncombed,  with 
haggard,  pale  faces,  and  figures  gaunt  from  famine.  They 
were  set  at  liberty,  fed,  and  clothed,  and  sent  to  their 
homes.  Among  the  Moorish  captives  were  four  hundred 
Jews,  chiefly  women,  who  were  ransomed  by  a  wealthy 
Jew  of  Castile.  The  others  were  held  for  ransom;  but 
whatever  they  had  was  taken  to  the  king,  and  accounted 
as  part  of  the  ransom.  Each  person — man,  woman,  and 
child — stepped  singly  out  of  their  house,  bearing  their 
money,  jewels,  bracelets,  anklets,  and  whatever  they  had 
of  value.  These  were  taken  and  valued.  If  they  amounted 
to  less  than  the  ransom  fixed,  the  owner  was  confined  in 
an  enclosure  to  be  sold  as  a  slave.  Some  of  the  most 
beautiful  girls  were  allotted  to  Queen  Isabella,  who  gave 
them  as  presents  to  her  sister-in-law,  the  Queen  of  Naples, 
or  to  the  ladies  of  her  court. 

Meanwhile  a  bishop  was  appointed  over  the  chief 
mosque,  which  was  turned  into  a  cathedral,  and  the  king 
and  queen,  with  the  officers  of  the  army,  heard  mass  in  it. 
While  the  plain -chant  of  the  mass  rose  to  heaven,  the 
Moors,  with  their  hands  bound,  chanted  outside: 

"  Oh,  Malaga,  city  so  famous  and  beautiful  !  Where  is 
now  the  strength  of  thy  castle  ?  Behold  thy  children 
driven  from  their  pleasant  abodes  to  drag  a  life  of  bond- 
age in  a  foreign  land,  and  to  die  far  from  the  home  of 


1488-1492]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  137 

their  childhood  !  What  will  become  of  the  old  men  and 
matrons  when  their  gray  hairs  will  no  longer  be  revered  ? 
What  will  become  of  thy  tender  and  delicate  maidens, 
when  reduced  to  hard  and  menial  servitude?  Oh,  Mal- 
aga, city  of  our  birth  !  who  can  behold  thy  desolation 
and  not  shed  tears  of  bitter  grief  ?" 

Ferdinand  spent  the  winter  in  preparing  for  the  final 
conquest  of  the  Moors,  and  gave  his  army  a  rest.  It  was  not 
till  the  end  of  May,  1489,  that  he  mov.ed  from  the  fortress 
of  Jaen  into  the  Granada  country.  He  had  to  make  sure 
of  several  castles,  and  especially  of  the  fortified  town  of 
Baza,  before  he  could  "venture  to  attack  Granada.  Gra- 
nada was  in  the  hands  of  Boabdil,  who  acted  like  a  mean 
hypocrite.  His  heart  was  always  with  his  people;  but 
when  Malaga  fell  he  sent  congratulations  and  presents  to 
Ferdinand,  and  assured  him  of  h;s  fidelity  and  of  his  in- 
tention to  pay  tribute.  Ferdinand  received  his  messenger 
in  grim  silence.  He  knew  that  the  real  ruler  of  the  Moor- 
ish empire  was  Boabdil's  uncle,  old  Muley  el  Zagal,  who 
was  at  Almeria,  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force. 
Ferdinand  left  him  there  while  he  laid  siege  to  Baza. 

Baza  was  so  strong  a  place,  and  was  so  stanchly  de- 
fended by  the  Moors,  that  the  Spaniards  beleaguered  it  for 
six  months  before  they  could  reduce  it.  They  would  have 
had  to  raise  the  siege  for  want  of  food  had  it  not  been 
for  the  energy  of  Queen  Isabella.  The  country  round  the 
town  had  been  laid  bare  by  the  raiders  on  both  sides.  It 
contained  nothing  to  eat.  There  were  no  wagons  to  be 
.had,  and  no  roads  to  drive  them  over  if  there  had  been. 
The  army  was  on  the  point  of  starving,  when  long  con- 
voys of  loaded  mules  were  seen  winding  down  the  hill- 
side, and  bearing  relief.  Isabella  had  bought  all  the  corn 
in  Andalusia,  and  all  the  mules.  She  loaded  each  mule 
with  as  much  corn  as  it  could  carry,  and  day  after  day 
started  off  droves  of  two  hundred  mules  each  to  the  camp. 
Her  husband  and  his  troops  were  thus  saved  by  her  vigor 
and  foresight. 


138  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [1488-1492 

Not  content  with  victualling  the  army,  the  queen  re- 
solved to  join  it,  in  order  to  give  heart  to  her  husband, 
and  to  see  personally  to  the  establishment  of  field  hospi- 
tals, which  were  always  very  near  her  heart.  She  jour- 
neyed from  Jaen  with  a  cavalcade  of  troopers  and  at- 
tendants, and  rode  slowly  past  the  Moorish  city  with  gay 
banners  and  pennons,  and  a  splendid  retinue  of  cavaliers, 
as  if  she  were  going  to  make  a  holiday.  When  the  Moors 
saw  her  pass,  they  knew  that  the  king  was  there  to  stay 
until  the  city  fell,  and  the  commanding  officer  sent  a 
messenger  to  old  El  Zagal. 

The  white-bearded  veteran  sat  with  a  scowl  on  his  brow, 
and  said:  "  How  fares  it  with  Baza ?" 

The  messenger  handed  him  a  letter,  which  he  read  with 
bowed  head. 

"  There  is  but  one  G'od,"  said  he,  "  and  Mahomet  is  his 
prophet;  the  people  of  Baza  must  submit  to  the  decree  of 
fate." 

So  the  city  surrendered,  and  largely  through  the  inter- 
cession of  Isabella  no  one  was  sold  as  a  slave,  no  one  lost 
his  property,  and  the  Moors  were  allowed  to  go  on  praying 
in  their  old  fashion. 

Then  other  forts  surrendered.  One  of  them  was  com- 
manded by  an  old  soldier,  who  said  that  his  men  refused 
to  stand  by  him,  and  therefore  he  could  not  hold  out. 
Ferdinand  offered  him  gold,  but  he  refused  it,  saying  : 
"  I  came  not  to  sell  what  is  not  mine,  but  to  yield  what 
fortune  has  made  yours." 

"  But,"  said  Queen  Isabella, "  can  we  do  nothing  for  you  ?". 

"  You  can,"  said  the  Moor ;  "  you  can  give  me  your 
royal  word  that  ray  unhappy  countrymen,  with  their  wives 
and  children,  shall  be  protected  in  the  peaceable  enjoy- 
ment of  their  homes  and  their  religion." 

"  We  promise  it,"  said  the  queen. 

And  the  high-minded  old  warrior  took  the  road  to  Africa. 

Then  Almeria  fell,  the  second  city  in  the  Empire  of 
Granada,  and  El  Zagal  was  taken  prisoner.  He  was  set 


1488-1492]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  139 

free,  and  given  an  estate  to  live  on.  But  he  thought  he 
would  be  happier  in  Africa,  and  went  there.  Unhappily 
he  fell  into  the  clutches  of  the  Sultan  of  Fez,  whose  exe- 
cutioner held  a  basin  of  molten  copper  before  his  eyes  ; 
and  blinded  him.  He  spent  his  last  years  groping  about 
Fez,  in  rags  and  penniless. 

Then  all  that  remained  of  the  Moorish  Empire  was  the 
city  and  plain,  or  vega,  of  Granada.  Boabdil  was  there, 
in  the  Alhambra,  writing  cringing  letters  to  Ferdinand — 
who  answered  none  of  them — hated  and  cursed  by  his 
people  as  a  traitor.  Suddenly,  in  the  summer  of  1490,  a 
Spanish  army  appeared  in  the  vega  of  Granada,  which  was 
clothed  with  a  rich  crop  of  fruit  and  grain.  The  soldiers 
ravaged  it  after  their  fashion :  reaped  the  wheat,  and  put 
the  grain  in  their  stores,  cut  down  the  fruit-trees,  and  tore 
up  the  vines.  The  bad  work  done,  Ferdinand  summoned 
Granada  to  surrender.  Boabdil  tried  to  argue  with  him; 
Ferdinand  would  not  listen  to  him  or  deal  with  him,  but 
wrote  to  the  officers  in  command  at  Granada,  demanding 
the  surrender  of  their  arms.  With  one  voice  they  re- 
fused. An  officer  named  Muza  spoke  for  them,  and  said 
they  were  ready  to  die,  but  they  would  not  surrender. 
Boabdil,  who  then  once  more  recovered  courage,  and  said 
he  was  loyal  to  his  race,  begged  to  be  allowed  to  lead 
them  against  the  Spaniards,  and  they  took  him  into  favor 
once  again. 

The  siege  lasted  over  a  year,  and  though  there  was  no 
general  battle,  single  combats  and  feats  of  daring  were 
of  daily  occurrence.  Between  the  advanced  line  of  the 
Christians  and  the  walls  was  an  open  space.  Almost  every 
day  some  Christian  knight  or  Moorish  warrior  rode  into 
this  space  and  challenged  any  horseman  on  the  other  side 
to  meet  him  in  a  joust  of  arms.  When  these  duels  took 
place  the  two  armies  looked  on;  it  was  esteemed  un- 
knightly  to  interfere. 

One  of  the  Moorish  warriors,  named  Tarfe,  was  famous 
for  his  personal  exploits.  In  open  day  he  rode  so  near  to 


140  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN          [1488-1492 

the  Spanish  lines  that  he  flung  his  lance  almost  into  the 
royal  tent;  when  it  was  pulled  quivering  out  of  the 
ground  it  was  found  to  bear  a  card  with  the  queen's  name 
on  it.  Yet  Tarfe  rode  safely  back  to  Granada.  A  Span- 
ish cavalier,  named  Hernan  del  Pulgar,  with  a  handful  of 
horsemen,  rode  stealthily  at  night  into  the  city  of  Gra- 
nada, nailed  on  the  door  of  the  chief  mosque  a  placard 
bearing  the  words  Ave  Maria  ("Hail,  Mary "),  galloped 
furiously  through  the  crowd  which  tried  to  stop  him,  and 
got  safely  away.  Next  day  a  Moorish  warrior  of  gigantic 
size  appeared  before  the  walls  with  this  very  placard  tied 
to  his  horse's  tail.  He  taunted  and  jeered  the  Spaniards 
till  a  young  hidalgo  rode  out  to  meet  him.  The  two  cava- 
liers met  with  such  a  shock  that  their  lances  were  shivered 
to  pieces,  and  both  rolled  into  the  dust.  Then  the  Moor, 
who  was  a  giant,  turned  his  adversary  over  on  the  ground, 
and  drew  his  poignard  to  stab  him  in  the  throat ;  but  the 
young  hidalgo,  shortening  his  sword,  thrust  it  through  a 
chink  in  the  Moor's  armor  straight  into  his  heart. 

These  encounters  did  not  drive  the  Spaniards  away  from 
Granada,  and  the  Moors  saw  that  it  was  a  mere  question 
of  time  when  they  must  yield  from  hunger,  now  that  their 
fields  were  laid  waste.  So,  after  much  strife  among  them- 
selves, they  agreed  on  terms  of  surrender  in  November, 
1491,  and  on  January  2d,  1492,  the  Spaniards  marched  into 
the  place. 

Boabdil  met  the  advance  party  with  a  face  pinched  by 
grief,  and  handed  them  the  keys  of  the  city.  As  he 
turned  to  look  at  his  walls  be  burst  into  tears,  and  said: 

"  God  is  great !" 

His  old  mother,  Ayesha,  who  had  somehow  got  out  of 
her  dungeon,  and  was  spiteful  to  the  last,  exclaimed' 

"  You  may  well  weep  like  a  woman  for  what  you  could 
not  defend  like  a  man." 

The  Spanish  advance-guard  quickly  raised  the  banner 
of  the  Cross  and  the  flag  of  Castile  and  Aragon  over  the 
Alhambra,  and  in  the  open  street  the  king  and  queen  fell 


1488-1492]          A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  141 

on  their  knees  to  thank  God  for  their  victory.     The  old 
ballad  draws  the  scene  so  that  you  can  almost  see  it: 

"There  was  crying  in  Granada 

When  the  sun  was  going  down ; 
Some  calling  on  the  Trinity — 

Some  calling  on  Mahoun. 
Here  passed  away  the  Koran — 

There  in  the  Cross  was  borne — 
And  here  was  heard  the  Christian  bell, 

And  there  the  Moorish  horn. 
Here  gallants  held  it  little 

For  ladies'  sake  to  die, 
Or  for  the  prophet's  honor, 

And  pride  of  Soldanry; 
For  here  did  valor  flourish, 

And  deeds  of  warlike  might 
Ennobled  lordly  palaces, 

In  which  was  our  delight. 
The  gardens  of  thy  vega  I 

Its  fields  and  blooming  bowers  ! 
Woe  !  woe !    I  see  their  beauty  gone, 

And  scattered  all  their  flowers. 
No  reverence  can  claim  the  king 

That  such  a  land  hath  lost; 
On  charger  never  can  he  ride, 

Nor  be  heard  among  the  host; 
But  in  some  dark  and  dismal  place, 

Where  none  his  face  can  see, 
There,  weeping  and  lamenting, 

Alone  that  king  should  be." 

Ferdinand  promised  that  the  Moors  should  continue  to 
pray  as  they  chose  in  their  mosques;  that  their  property 
should  not  be  taken  from  them;  that  they  should  not  be 
taxed  more  than  they  had  been  under  their  own  kings. 
We  shall  see  how  these  promises  were  kept. 

Boabdil  was  given  a  sum  of  money  and  a  castle.  But 
he  was  restless.  He  sold  his  property  and  went  to  Africa. 
There  he  was  robbed  by  the  sultans,  and  his  children  lived 
to  beg  their  bread. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE   LAST   OF  THE   MOORS 

A.D.  1492-1575 

THE  Moors  of  Granada,  who  were  a  common-sense  people, 
made  no  objections  to  the  rule  of  the  Spaniards  so  long  as 
their  religion  was  not  interfered  with,  and  they  were  al- 
lowed to  pursue  their  several  callings  in  peace.  I  dare 
say  they  were  not  sorry  to  exchange  the  turbulence  of  the 
old  Moorish  times  of  strife  for  the  quiet  of  a  government 
which  was  strong  enough  to  keep  order. 

But  now  came  to  the  front  in  Spain  an  influence  which 
was  destined  to  work  untold  mischief — the  influence  of  the 
Church. 

Three  months  had  not  elapsed  from  the  surrender  of 
Granada  when  Torquemada,  the  Grand  Inquisitor  of  the 
Papal  Church,  terrified  King  Ferdinand  into  signing  a  de- 
cree for  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  Spain.  The  Jews 
were  among  the  most  useful  and  the  richest  of  the  people. 
They  were  skilful  artificers,  enterprising  merchants,  and 
liberal  citizens.  But  because  they  were  not  Christians  the 
priests  insisted  on  their  banishment.  The  Jews  offered 
the  king  a  bribe  of  thirty  thousand  ducats  to  let  them 
alone.  While  the  king  and  queen  were  considering  it, 
Torquemada  burst  in  upon  them  with  a  crucifix  in  his  hand, 
and  cried  : 

"  Judas  Iscariot  sold  his  master  for  thirty  pieces  of  sil- 
ver. You  would  sell  him  for  thirty  thousand.  Here  he  is  ! 
Sell  him !" 

And  he  flung  the  crucifix  on  the  table. 

The  king  and  queen  yielded,  and  several  hundred  thou- 
sand Jews,  some  of  them  old  and  infirm,  some  of  them 


I>~   THE  DUSK  AT  GRANADA 


149^-15/5]  A    CHILD'S    HISTORY    OF   SPAIN  145 

delicate  women  and  children,  were  driven  out  of  their 
homes  and  along  the  highways  by  brutal  soldiers,  to  starve 
in  a  foreign  land — just  as  the  Russian  Jews  have  been  in 
our  day.  They  were  not  allowed  to  take  silver  or  gold 
with  them.  Those  who  were  rich  were  as  badly  off  as 
those  who  were  poor.  If  they  halted  on  the  journey, 
from  fatigue  or  illness,  the  soldiers  prodded  them  with 
their  sword-points.  So  they  scattered  to  Africa,  to  Portu- 
gal, to  Italy,  to  Holland,  and  Germany  and  England,  and 
to  this  day  you  can  meet  descendants  of  theirs  who  cherish 
a  tender  memory  of  their  ancient  home. 

You  can  imagine  that  priests  who  thus  persecuted  the 
Jews  were  not  inclined  to  be  tolerant  to  the  Moors.  Fer- 
dinand, as  you  remember,  had  promised  the  latter  that 
they  should  be  free  to  pray  in  their  mosques  after  their 
fashion.  Cardinal  Ximenes  now  told  the  Moors  of  Gra- 
nada that  infidels  could  not  be  suffered  to  live  in  Spain. 
They  must  be  baptized  or  go.  Numbers  of  them  had  no- 
where to  go  to,  and  had  trades  at  their  homes.  They 
submitted  to  be  baptized,  and  consoled  themselves  by 
washing  off  the  mark  of  the  holy  water  when  they  got 
back  to  their  houses.  Some  fled  to  a  mountain  range  near 
Granada,  and  barricaded  the  passes.  There  they  stood  a 
siege,  but  could  not  long  hold  out  against  the  power  of 
Spain;  they  surrendered,  agreeing  to  be  baptized  or  to  go 
into  exile,  not,  however,  until  they  had  killed  the  Spanish 
leader,  Aguilar,  in  battle. 

Of  him  and  of  this  expedition  of  his  there  is  a  ballad 
which  says: 

"  Beyond  the  sands,  between  the  rocks, 

Where  the  old  cork-tree  grows, 
The  path  is  rough,  and  mounted  men 

Must  singly  march  and  slow; 
There  o'er  the  path  the  heathen  range 

Their  ambuscade's  line, 
High  up  they  wait  for  Aguilar 

As  the  day  begins  to  shine. 
10 


146  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN          [1492-1575 

•'Nor  knightly  valor  there  avails, 

Nor  skill  of  horse  or  spear, 
For  rock  on  rock  comes  tumbling  down 

From  cliff  and  cavern  drear; 
Down,  down,  like  driving  hail  they  come, 

And  horse  and  horsemen  die, 
Like  cattle  whose  despair  is  dumb 

When  the  fierce  lightnings  fly. 

"A  hundred  and  a  hundred  darts 

Hiss  round  Aguilar's  head; 
Had  Aguilar  a  thousand  hearts, 

Their  blood  had  all  been  shed. 
Faint  and  more  faint  he  staggers 

Upon  the  slippery  sod; 
At  last  his  back  is  to  the  earth, 

He  gives  his  soul  to  God. 

"  Upon  the  village  green  he  lay 

As  the  moon  was  shining  clear. 
And  all  the  village  damsels 

To  look  on  him  drew  near; 
They  stood  around  him  all  agaze, 

Beside  the  big  oak-tree; 
And  much  his  beauty  they  did  praise, 

Though  mangled  sore  was  he." 


Then  the  Moors  of  Granada  submitted  in  patience. 
Cardinal  Ximenes  burned  their  splendid  library  of  Arabic 
manuscripts,  as  the  Church  was  afraid  of  learning,  and  shut 
up  the  mosques.  A  number  of  Moors  who  refused  to  re- 
pudiate their  religion  were  burned  at  the  stake  by  the 
Holy  Inquisition.  And  a  few  years  later  successors  of 
Ximenes  resolved  to  make  life  intolerable  to  the  Moriscoes, 
as  the  Moors  began  to  be  called. 

They  forbade  the  Moors  speaking  their  own  language, 
and  ordered  them  to  speak  nothing  but  Spanish.  They 
forbade  their  bathing,  as  that  cleanly  people  were  in  the 
habit  of  doing,  and  required  them  to  be  as  dirty  as  the 
Spaniards.  In  order  to  make  sure  of  this  they  tore  down 


1492-1575]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY. OF  SPAIN  147 

the  baths.  These  oppressions  again  aroused  the  Moors  to 
rebellion,  and  once  more  they  took  to  the  mountains,  where 
the  land,  broken  by  many  a  torrent  bed  and  many  a  dry 
gulch,  slopes  from  the  heights  where  the  cattle  browse 
under  the  shade  of  pine-trees  to  the  narrow  vega,  spotted 
with  cornfields  and  olive  groves  and  vineyards,  and  again 
down  to  the  tropical  valleys,  where  the  sugar-cane  flour- 
ishes and  the  air  is  scented  by  the  pine-apple.  Here  for 
two  years  the  Moors  held  out.  The  war  was  one  long 
string  of  murders  and  outrages,  first  on  one  side  and  then 
on  the  other. 

How  fiercely  Moor  and  Christian  hated  each  other  you 
may  guess  from  what  happened  in  the  prison  of  the  Alben- 
cin.  There  were  a  couple  of  hundred  Christian  prisoners 
confined  there  for  various  offences.  One  hundred  and  ten 
Moors,  made  captive  in  battle,  were  thrust  into  the  jail. 
Instantly,  with  fists  and  feet  and  teeth  and  pocket-knives, 
the  two  sets  of  prisoners  fell  upon  one  another.  To  separ- 
ate them  the  governor  of  the  place  marched  in  the  guard. 
But  the  jailer  stopped  the  guard,  saying; 

"  You  are  not  needed.  The  prison  is  quiet.  All  the 
Morlscoes  are  dead." 

The  warfare  did  not  cease  until  the  king  put  his  army 
under  the  command  of  Don  Juan  of  Austria,  a  young  man 
of  twenty-two,  of  whom  you  will  presently  hear  more.  He 
bade  his  soldiers  give  no  quarter ;  and  so,  in  course  of  time, 
the  rebellious  Moors  were  wiped  out.  Most  of  them  were 
killed;  the  rest  were  banished.  In  the  words  of  the  old 
Arab  historian: 

"The  Almighty  was  not  pleased  to  grant  our  people 
victory.  They  were  overcome  and  slain  on  all  sides,  till  at 
last  they  were  driven  forth  from  the  land  of  Andalusia, 
the  which  calamity  came  to  pass  in  our  own  days.  Verily 
to  God  belongs  land  and  dominions,  and  He  giveth  to  whom 
He  doth  will." 

It  is  said  in  larger  histories  than  this  that  three  million 
Moors  were  driven  into  exile  between  1492  and  1610,  when 


148  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1492-1575 

the  last  of  them  were  sent  out  of  the  country.  I  suppose 
that  this  was  about  one-fifth  or  one-fourth  the  entire  popu- 
lation of  Spain.  And  it  embraced  the  most  industrious 
workmen,  the  most  skilled  artisans,  the  best  farmers,  and 
the  most  refined,  polished,  and  learned  people  in  the 
country. 

At  the  time  of  their  banishment  Granada  produced  the 
finest  cloths — of  wool,  silk,  and  linen — that  were  made  in 
Spain;  highly  -  tempered  steel;  perfect  work  in  leather, 
bronze,  and  copper;  elegant  designs  in  embroidery  and 
tracery;  and  at  the  same  time  the  farmers  of  the  vega 
had  brought  to  such  perfection  the  science  of  fertilizing 
land,  and  of  developing  the  uses  of  water,  that  their  per- 
formance has  not  been  surpassed,  if  it  has  been  equalled, 
to-day. 

At  this  same  time  the  Christians  of  Spain,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  those  who  had  learned  from  the  Moors,  were 
unable  to  make  a  fine  sword-blade,  or  a  rich  silk,  or  a  glow- 
ing dye,  or  a  carved  object  in  metal.  Their  farming  was 
as  rude  as  that  of  the  Goths.  They  had  a  noble  country 
with  a  fertile  soil  and  a  glorious  climate.  But  they  did 
not  know  how  to  turn  either  to  account;  the  only  occupa- 
tion of  which  they  really  knew  anything  was  fighting. 

Yet  the  Moors  were  turned  out  for  the  sake  of  the  Chris- 
tians. The  Cross  took  the  place  of  the  Crescent.  But  at  the 
same  time  ignorance  took  the  place  of  learning.  Deserts 
gradually  succeeded  to  smiling  cornfields  and  purple  vine- 
yards. A  polite  and  refined  people  made  way  for  a  race  of 
stupid  peasants,  who  could  neither  be  taught  nor  made  to 
work.  A  people  who  were  the  leaders  of  civilization  were 
banished  from  their  homes  to  make  room  for  a  people 
steeped  in  sloth  and  superstition,  and  who  to  this  day,  in 
the  opinion  of  their  leading  men,  are  unfit  to  be  trusted 
with  self-government. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE   CONDITION   OF   SPAIN 

A.D.  1450-1500 

WHEN  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  became  King  and  Queen 
of  Spain  that  country  was  divided  into  four  States  :  Cas- 
tile, which  included  the  old  provinces  of  the  North,  Galicia, 
the  Asturias  and  the  Basque  country,  Leon,  Old  and  New 
Castile,  Estremadura,  Andalusia,  and  Murcia;  Aragon, 
which  included  Catalonia  and  Valencia;  the  Moorish  king- 
dom of  Granada  ;  and  the  independent  kingdom  of  Na- 
varre. You  have  heard  how  Ferdinand  conquered  Gra- 
nada. Soon  afterwards  he  annexed  Navarre.  Castile  and 
Aragon  being  firmly  united,  the  four  States  were  merged 
into  the  kingdom  of  Spain.  It  was  the  home  of  many 
races,  but  thenceforth  it  constituted  but  one  nationality. 

The  people   of  Spain  were  divided  into  four  classes  : 

1.  The  nobles,  who  were  of  various  ranks  and   grades  ; 

2.  The   clergy  ;     3.  The    burghers   of   cities   which   held 
f ueros,  or  charters,  from  the  kings ;  and  4.  The  common  peo- 
ple.    In  some  provinces  there  was  a  fifth  class,  consisting 
of  slaves — prisoners  taken  in  war,  captives  bought  from 
roaming  slave-traders,  or  peasants  belonging  to  the  land 
they  tilled.     But  the  slavery  of  whites  gradually  died  out, 
except  on  war-galleys,  which  were  rowed  by  slaves  a  long 
time  after  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

In  those  days  the  nobles — the  highest  among  whom  were 
called  Grandees  of  Spain — possessed  vast  estates  and  enor- 
mous incomes.  They  lived  in  castles,  with  their  retainers 
in  towns  and  villages  round  them.  Some  of  them  were  as 
powerful  as  kings.  The  Duke  of  Infantado  could  put  thir- 
ty thousand  men  into  the  field.  The  Duke  of  Alva  had 


150  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN          [1450-1500 

an  income  of  half  a  million  a  year  of  our  money,  which 
would  buy  as  much  goods  or  labor  as  several  millions  to- 
day. The  income  of  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  of  whom 
you  have  heard,  was  still  larger.  The  family  of  Gonsalvo 
.  de  Cordova,  of  whom  you  will  hear  presently,  was  nearly 
as  rich,  and  so  were  a  dozen  others.  All  these  nobles  called 
themselves  subjects  of  the  king;  but  on  their  own  estates 
they  were  monarchs  of  all  they  surveyed.  They  paid  no 
taxes,  but  were  bound  to  lead  their  fighting  men  to  the 
king's  wars. 

The  clergy  were  a  large  and  powerful  body,  with  the 
Archbishop  of  Toledo,  who  was  called  Primate  of  Spain,  at 
their  head.  They  also  paid  no  taxes,  and  broad  estates 
were  assigned  for  the  support  of  the  several  cardinals  and 
archbishops  and  bishops.  The  Archbishop  of  Toledo  had 
three-quarters  of  a  million  a  year  of  our  money,  which  was 
as  much  as  five  millions  to-day.  Many  of  the  priests  could 
afford  to  live  in  palaces;  some  of  them  had  armies  of  re- 
tainers, whom  they  led  to  the  wars.  It  became  the  fashion 
under  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  for  the  head  of  the  Church 
to  be  likewise  head  of  the  government;  thus  Cardinal 
Ximenes  ruled  Spain  in  Ferdinand's  later  years.  We 
should  not  think  it  a  wise  plan  to  put  a  bishop  or  arch- 
bishop at  the  head  of  the  Cabinet  in  Washington;  but 
four  hundred  years  ago  in  Spain  people  looked  at  the 
thing  in  a  different  light. 

The  cities  which  had  fueros  or  charters  had  a  right  to 
elect  members  to  a  Congress  or  Cortes,  which  made  laws 
for  the  cities  and  the  country  round  about  them.  I  do 
not  find  that  these  laws  were  binding  upon  king,  nobles, 
or  clergy.  But  as  the  burghers  had  a  way  of  their  own 
of  resenting  invasions  of  their  liberties  by  rising  in  arms, 
and  as,  moreover,  the  men  in  the  cities  had  enrolled  them- 
selves in  a  brotherhood  for  mutual  defence,  I  find  that,  so 
long  as  the  Cortes  continued  to  meet,  neither  king  nor  no- 
bles cared  to  quarrel  with  them.  After  a  time  they  fell 
into  disuse,  and  their  meetings  ceased. 


1450-1500]          A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  151 

The  common  people  of  Spain — muleteers,  shepherds,  farm 
laborers,  ploughmen,  vine  -  dressers,  and  the  like,  in  the 
country,  and  shoemakers,  tailors,  blacksmiths,  masons,  car- 
penters, servants,  and  the  like,  in  the  cities  —  do.  not  seem 
to  have  enjoyed  any  rights  worth  mentioning,  except  the 
right  of  living,  when  they  did  not  incur  the  wrath  of  the 
Church.  They  were  often  robbed  by  the  nobles,  and  driven 
into  the  armies  against  their  will.  But  when  the  nobles 
were  not  busy  robbing  people,  and  there  was  no  war 
raging,  and  they  did  not  quarrel  with  the  Church,  the  com- 
mon people  appear  to  have  led  fairly  cheerful  lives,  and  to 
have  danced  merry  boleros  and  sung  tuneful  romances  on 
summer  evenings. 

Since  the  Moorish  conquest  Spain  had  made  progress. 
Christians  had  learned  from  the  Moors  their  methods  of 
agriculture.  They  tilled  every  field  that  was  covered 
with  soil,  and  watered  it  from  the  near-by  rivers.  Thus 
all  the  land  was  made  to  yield  its  increase,  and  Spain  had 
quantities  of  fruit  and  oil  and  wine  to  send  abroad  in  ex- 
change for  foreign  goods.  The  forbidding  and  sunburnt 
desert  over  which  you  will  now  travel  if  you  go  from 
Madrid  to  Toledo  was  then  a  garden,  fed  with  water  from 
the  Tagus.  The  Moors  were  as  expert  breeders  of  cattle 
and  sheep  as  they  were  good  farmers.  They  raised  fleet 
mules  which  were  preferred  to  horses,  and  a  breed  of  sheep, 
called  Merinos,  which  yielded  the  softest  and  brightest 
wool  in  the  world.  You  will  see  on  some  of  our  pastures 
sheep  of  that  same  Merino  breed  to-day.  I  have  told  you 
in  former  chapters  of  the  pi'oducts  of  the  Moorish  looms 
and  factories  and  foundries.  They  also  were  copied  by 
the  Christians. 

Thus  at  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
the  cities  of  Spain  were  numerous  and  rich.  You  have 
heard  of  Cordova  and  Seville  and  Malaga  and  Granada. 
Toledo,  with  its  turbulent  people,  was  at  the  end  of  the  fif- 
teenth century  as  splendid  and  bustling  as  any.  Valladolid, 
in  Castile,  which  is  now  a  small  place  of  ten  thousand 


152  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIX  [1450-1500 

population,  could  put  thirty  thousand  soldiers  in  the  field. 
Saragossa  was  the  centre  of  so  rich  a  country  that  it  was 
"called  "the  abundant."  Barcelona  was  a  great  seaport, 
Avhose  flag  was  seen  in  all  harbors.  Valencia  was  its  rival 
for  the  trade  of  Africa.  Salamanca,  the  home  of  learning, 
was  crowded  with  students  from  all  parts  of  Europe. 
Burgos  was  a  hive  of  industry. 

At  that  time  the  Spanish  hidalgos  were  cultured  and 
accomplished  gentlemen,  as  well  as  valiant  warriors.  In 
comparison  with  Spain,  England  was  a  poor,  weak,  obscure 
country,  peopled  by  an  ignorant  race,  which  at  this  time 
was  busied  in  hanging  witches,  and  among  whom  laborers 
worked  for  fourpence  a  day — a  country  where  Jack  Cade 
thought  to  better  matters  by  turning  everything  topsy- 
turvy, and  Parliament  had  nothing  better  to  do  than  to  pro- 
hibit the  importation  of  flour  until  it  reached  a  price  when 
it  was  too  dear  for  the  poor  to  afford  it. 

The  increase  of  wealth  and  the  splendid  example  of  the 
Moors  led  to  much  extravagance  in  living  in  the  cities 
of  Spain.  People  lived  in  houses  v;ith  mosaic  floors,  fret- 
ted arches  by  way  of  ceilings,  delicately  carved  windows. 
They  wore  clothes  of  cloth-of-gold  and  silver,  and  of  silk 
richly  embroidered.  Ladies  carried  priceless  gems  round 
their  necks  and  in  their  hair.  The  queen  herself  was  not 
fond  of  show.  When  not  engaged  in  affairs  of  government 
she  spent  her  time  in  embroidery  and  fancy  needle-work. 
A  law  was  passed  that  no  one  but  nobles  should  wear  silk ; 
but  it  was  not  obeyed.  The  rich  burghers  in  the  cities, 
like  the  nobles,  gave  grand  feasts,  at  which  rich  food  was 
served  on  gold  and  silver  plates  ;  after  the  banquet  the 
ladies  danced  in  gowns  which  were  worth  a  fortune,  and 
which  were  as  stiff  as  if  they  were  made  of  boards.  When 
a  man  died  another  fortune  was  spent  on  his  funeral. 
Ferdinand  tried  to  stop  this  by  law,  but  the  priests  said 
he  was  trying  to  take  the  bread  out  of  their  mouths,  and 
he  gave  up  his  attempt. 

The  king  and  queen  led  frugal  lives.     Isabella  never 


"  REMEMBER  THAT  THOU  TOO  M1IST  DIE 


1450-1500]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN*  155 

used  a  carriage;  she  travelled  on  horseback.  Both  wore 
plain  clothes  and  ate  plain  food.  Isabella  rarely  touched 
wine.  But  the  court  did  not  follow  her  example.  In 
one  thing,  however,  she  was  extravagant.  Printing  had 
lately  been  invented.  She  sent  for  all  the  printing- 
presses  and  all  the  printers  she  could  get;  so  that  it  is 
said  there  were  more  books  printed  in  Spain  during  the 
century  which  followed  the  invention  of  printing  than  in 
all  the  rest  of  Europe  put  together. 

One  popular  Spanish  pastime  she  could  not  endure. 
That  was  the  custom  of  bull-fighting,  which  lasts  to  the 
present  day.  In  her  youthful  days  she  was  taken  to  a 
bull-fight,  and  she  saw  horses  gored  to  death,  and  the  poor 
bull,  after  being  teased  by  the  cruel  picadors,  finally  stab- 
bed to  death  by  the  keen  blade  of  the  matador.  As  she 
came  out  she  said  she  would  never  see  such  a  spectacle 
again.  She  kept  her  word ;  but  in  this,  as  in  the  other 
case,  her  people  did  not  imitate  her. 

In  one  more  instance  this  admirable  woman  failed  to 
carry  her  point.  When  the  priests  of  Castile  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  establish  the  Inquisition  to  crush  the  Jews,  she 
objected,  though  she  was  a  devout  Catholic ;  but  afterwards 
she  yielded  to  the  bullying  of  her  confessors  and  her  bish- 
ops, and  assented  to  the  introduction  of  the  Holy  Office  in 
Spain,  on  the  condition  that  it  should  be  mercifully  admin- 
istered. 

I  wish  I  could  tell  you  that  it  was;  but  I  cannot.  On  the 
contrary,  the  cruelties  which  were  practised  upon  heretics, 
or  persons  suspected  of  being  heretics,  by  the  priests  of  the 
Inquisition  were  so  horrible  that  I  will  not  undertake  to 
describe  them.  You  will  find  them  set  forth  in  larger 
books  than  this.  It  is  enough  here  to  say  that  during  the 
reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  several  thousand  persons 
were  burned  to  death  after  being  tortured  in  the  dungeons 
of  the  Inquisition,  and  that  probably  a  still  larger  number 
of  persons  were  despoiled  of  their  property  in  favor  of  the 
Church  under  threats  that  they  would  be  accused  of  heresy. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

COLUMBUS 
A.D.  1484-1492 

WHILE  Ferdinand  was  fixing  his  mind  on  the  foolish 
enterprise  of  crushing  the  Moors,  a  poor  sailor  was  spend- 
ing his  time  in  trying  to  attract  his  attention  to  a  far  more 
sensible  undertaking. 

This  was  Christopher  Columbus.  He  was  a  native  of 
Genoa,  the  son  of  a  wool-carder;  at  this  time  about  fifty 
years  old,  quite  gray  and  bronzed,  as  seafaring  men  are, 
though  his  blue  eye  was  still  clear,  and  his  skin  was  fair 
and  ruddy.  He  had  spent  all  his  life  at  sea,  from  the  time 
he  left  the  college  at  Pavia,  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  More 
than  once  he  had  been  shipwrecked ;  once  off  the  coast  of 
Portugal  his  ship  foundered  in  battle ;  he  leaped  into  the 
waves  and  caught  an  oar,  with  the  help  of  which  he  swam 
to  shore,  which  was  five  or  six  miles  distant.  But  the  dan- 
ger did  not  prevent  his  going  to  sea  again  as  soon  as  he 
could  get  a  ship. 

At  that  time  there  was  a  craze  for  adventure  at  sea. 
Within  a  short  period  the  mariner's  compass  and  the  astro- 
labe, which  took  the  place  of  our  quadrant  and  sextant,  had 
been  invented,  and  with  their  help  seamen  were  enabled  to 
make  voyages  far  from  land.  Thus  the  coasts  of  Europe, 
Africa,  and  parts  of  Asia  had  been  explored.  But  noth- 
ing was  known  of  America.  Some  people  supposed  that 
Asia  spread  over  the  greater  part  of  the  world,  and  that  it 
was  not  very  far  by  sea  from  China  and  Tartary  to  Spain. 
Many  mariners  believed  that  by  taking  ship  at  any  Western 
port  in  Europe,  and  sailing  due  westward,  the  eastern 
shore  of  Asia  could  be  reached.  This  was  the  notion  of 


1484-1492] 


A    CHILD  S    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN 


Christopher  Columbus,  and  he  had  confirmed  himself  in 
the  belief  by  studying  the  maps  of  the  period,  which  were 
drawn  chiefly  from  fancy. 

Columbus  was  in  this  mind  when  he  settled  at  Lisbon,  in 
Portugal,  and  married.  For  a  whole  quarter  of  a  century 
he  made  voyages  of  exploration,  one  after  another — some- 
times sailing  to  the  Northern  Seas,  where  the  ice  never 
melts,  and  sometimes  down  to  the  gold  coast  of  Africa, 
where  snow  never  falls  —  all  the  time  keeping  wary 


THE   WORLD  AS  IT  WAS  KNOWN  IN  COLUMBUS  S  TIME 


watch  of  the  tides  and  currents  and  winds,  of  the  flight 
of  birds,  of  the  drift  of  weeds,  and  of  the  course  of  fishes, 
so  as  to  learn  the  secrets  of  the  great  ocean.  To  the  beau- 
tiful islands  lying  off  the  coast  of  Spain  and  Portugal, 
Madeira,  the  Azores,  and  the  Canary  Islands,  he  made 
many  voyages,  studying  their  shores  and  their  waters,  and 
whenever  he  found  a  mariner  who  had  sailed  out  beyond 
them  into  the  dark  blue  sea  where  the  sea-weed  grows  on 
the  top  of  the  water,  and  blocks  the  way  for  ships,  he 


158  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1484-1492 

was  never  tired  of  questioning  him  about  what  he  had 
seen. 

At  last  he  made  up  his  mind,  and  asked  King  John,  of 
Portugal,  to  give  him  a  vessel  or  two  to  discover  the 
western  road  to  Asia.  The  king  hesitated,  consulted  his 
ministers,  studied  over  the  maps ;  then  resolving  that  if 
there  was  any  discovery  to  be  made  he  would  make  it  him- 
self, and  would  leave  none  of  the  glory  of  it  for  Columbus, 
he  despatched  a  fleet  westward.  But  the  ships  presently 
came  back,  the  captains  declaiming  that  they  had  sailed  as 
far  as  they  dared  westward,  and  had  found  no  land. 
Columbus  heard  their  report;  and,  understanding  its  mean- 
ing, slipped  privately  out  of  Portugal  and  took  refuge  in 
Spain. 

He  had  no  money  and  no  friends.  But  a  good  priest, 
Juan  Perez  de  Marchena,  took  him  up,  fed  and  clothed 
him,  listened  to  his  plans,  and  gave  him  a  few  coins  and  a 
letter  to  the  queen's  confessor.  The  confessor  was  of 
opinion  that  Columbus  was  crazy.  The  Duke  of  Medina 
Sidonia  was  like-minded;  so  were  other  great  men  at 
court.  Many  priests  were  inclined  to  suspect  that  any 
such  discovery  as  Columbus  planned  was  contrary  to  the 
Bible.  Still,  as  the  poor,  battered  old  sailor  stuck  to  his 
plans,  and  kept  pressing  them  on  the  court,  the  king 
finally  appointed  a  committee  of  learned  men  to  consider 
them,  and  report  to  him  at  their  leisure.  The  committee 
met  at  Salamanca. 

It  seems  that  the  committee  took  six  years  to  make  up 
its  mind  on  the  subject.  During  all  this  time  Columbus 
— who  had  with  him  his  little  son  Diego  —  was  strained 
to  find  bread.  Sometimes  he  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Spanish  armies  against  the  Moors.  Sometimes  he  drew 
maps,  at  which  business  he  was  skilful,  and  sold  them  for 
a  few  cents.  For  two  years  he  kept  a  book-store  at  Seville, 
and  young  men  eager  for  adventures  used  to  gather  there 
to  hear  him  talk  of  the  rolling  sea,  of  the  dangers  which 
beset  those  who  go  down  to  the  deep  in  ships,  and  of  the 


1484-H92]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  159 

gold  and  gems  which  were  to  be  gathered  in  the  dirt  of  the 
distant  countries  where  the  savages  lived. 

At  last,  in  1491,  the  committee  reported  that  Columbus's 
scheme  was  vain  and  impracticable.  The  king  thought  so 
too ;  so  did  most  of  his  ministers  ;  the  queen  hesitated  ; 
only  Cardinal  Mendoza,  of  whom  you  will  hear  more  pres- 
ently, and  one  or  two  other  intelligent  priests,  thought  that 
Columbus  should  have  a  chance  to  try  his  experiment. 
For  nearly  a  year,  while  King  Ferdinand  with  his  army 
lay  before  the  city  of  Granada,  the  debate  went  on,  and 
the  big  heart  of  Columbus  almost  broke  from  disappoint- 
ment and  delay.  At  last,  just  as  Granada  surrendered,  he 
gave  up  hope,  and,  mounting  a  horse,  he  rode  slowly  away 
from  the  camp. 

He  had  not  gone  far  when  he  was  overtaken  by  a  mes- 
senger from  the  queen's  household,  who  bade  him  return. 
As  soon  as  it  became  known  that  he  was  gone,  Queen 
Isabella  called  a  council,  and  declared  that  she  was  for 
granting  the  prayer  of  Columbus.  When  she  was  told  that 
it  would  cost  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  that  the  royal 
treasury  had  been  emptied  by  the  Moorish  war,  this  glori- 
ous woman  replied  : 

"  I  will  assume  the  undertaking  for  my  own  Crown  of 
Castile  ;  if  there  is  not  money  enough  in  the  treasury  to 
meet  the  expense,  I  will  pawn  my  jewels." 

I  think  you  will  understand  the  feelings  with  which 
Columbus  wrote  of  this  turning-point  in  his  fortunes  : 

"In  the  midst  of  general  unbelief,  God  infused  into  the 
Queen,  my  lady,  the  spirit  of  intelligence  and  energy ; 
while  every  one  else  in  his  ignorance  was  thinking  of  the 
trouble  and  cost,  she  approved  it  and  gave  it  all  the  help  in 
her  power." 

In  a  sheltered  cove  on  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  River  Tinto,  is  the  little  village  of 
Palos,  which  four  hundred  years  ago  was  larger  than  it  is 
now.  For  some  misconduct  it  had  been  condemned  to 
furnish  two  ships  for  two  years  to  the  government  service. 


160  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN           [1484-14<J2 

These  two  ships  were  now  placed  at  the  service  of  Colum- 
bus; a  third  his  friends  agreed  to  supply.  An  order  from 
the  queen  required  the  merchants  of  Andalusia  to  outfit 
these  vessels  at  cost.  To  man  them,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men  were  needed.  Adventurous  young  men  from 
every  part  of  Spain  came  forward;  but  to  make  up  the  full 
number  of  the  ere wr the  government  had  to  exempt  volun- 
teers from  arrest  for  crime  for  two  months  after  their 
return  from  the  voyage. 

In  this  way  the  little  fleet  was  manned. 

It  consisted  of  three  vessels  •  the  Santa  Maria,  which  was 
a  large  vessel  for  those  days,  and  was  the  flag-ship,  with 
Columbus  himself  in  command,  and  the  Pinta  and  Nina, 
smaller  vessels,  but  well  prepared  for  the  voyage  by  two 
ship-builders  named  Pinzon,  who  commanded  them.  The 
Santa  Maria  carried  sixty-six  men,  the  Pinta  thirty,  and 
the  Nina  twenty-four.  All  three  were  provisioned  for  a 
year,  and  were  supplied  with  fire-arms  and  a  large  stock  of 
ammunition.  Models  of  these  ships,  as  large  as  the  origi- 
nals, were  at  the  World's  Fair 'at  Chicago. 

There  was  only  a  glimmer  of  dawn  in  the  eastern  sky 
when,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  August  3d,  1492, 
the  fleet  weighed  anchor  and  spread  sail  to  a  fair  wind. 
The  people  of  Palos  were  out  of  bed,  watching  the  sailing 
of  the  ships,  and  at  the  window .  of  the  convent  where 
Columbus  had  found  shelter  and  hospitality  eight  years 
before,  his  good  friend  the  priest  Perez  de  Mai'chena  stood, 
with  tears  streaming  down  his  cheeks,  asking  a  blessing  on 
the  enterprise,  and  waving  a  white  flag. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 

A.D.   1492-1493 

IN  six  days  the  little  fleet  reached  the  Canary  Islands, 
and  there  it  spent  nearly  a  month  in  refitting.  The  rudder 
of  the  Pinta  required  mending,  and  the  sails  of  the  Nina 
were  too  large.  On  September  6th  the  repairs  were 
finished,  and  the  ships  sailed  westward  on  the  unknown 
deep. 

The  crew  soon  began  to  see  wonders.  They  sailed  into 
a  sea  which  was  full  of  orange  sea-weed  floating  on  the 
surface,  with  crabs  swimming  in  the  branches.  In  the 
air  were  flocks  of  boobies,  gulls,  and  petrels.  Strange  vis- 
ions appeared  before  the  excited  fancy  of  the  sailors,  and 
they  began  to  long  to  be  at  home.  They  became  quite 
discontented  after  September  23d,  when  Martin  Pinzon 
fancied  he  saw  land,  and  it  turned  out  to  be  a  cloud 
on  the  horizon.  Columbus  never  allowed  himself  to  be 
discouraged,  and  he  kept  up  the  spirit  of  his  men  by 
praying  to  the  saints,  and  telling  stories  of  the  vast  treas- 
ures the  crew  would  reap  when  they  reached  the  dominions 
of  the  Khan  of  Tartary.  Martin  Pinzon  was  for  steering 
south,  where  he  believed  he  would  find  a  rich  island  which 
he  called  Cipango,  but  Columbus  insisted  on  sailing  due 
west,  in  order  to  strike  the  continent  of  Cathay.  Both 
were  kept  up  by  dreams  of  land  which  only  existed  in 
their  imagination. 

Early  in  October  objects  came  floating  by  which  no  one 
could  mistake.  A  branch  of  a  rose-bush  with  rose-buds 
on  it  passed  close  to  the  Nina.  Then  a  stick  with  carv- 
ing on  it  was  seen.  Land  could  not  be  far  off.  A  reward 
11 


162  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [1492-1493 

of  thirty-six  dollars  in  money — to  which  Columbus  added 
his  velvet  coat — was  offered  to  him  who  first  saw  the 
shore. 

At  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  October  llth  Columbus 
thought  he  saw  a  light  bobbing  and  flickering  in  the  west, 
and  four  hours  later  a  gun  was  fired  from  the  Pinta,  to 
signify  that  land  was  in  sight.  The  crews  could  hardly 
contain  themselves  till  morning.  When  the  sun  rose  they 
saw  that  they  had  found  land  in  reality — a  white  sandy 
beach  with  clumps  of  palms  and  other  trees  in  the  back- 
ground, very  refreshing  to  the  eye  of  the  tired  sailors. 
Columbus  and  his  officers  landed  in  their  most  gorgeous 
apparel,  and  after  returning  thanks  to  God  on  their  bend- 
ed knees,  planted  the  cross  and  the  flag  of  Spain  on  the 
beach,  to  signify  that  these  regions  henceforth  belonged  to 
the  Spanish  king. 

A  number  of  natives,  wearing  no  clothes,  came  down  to 
meet  them,  and  said  that  the  island  was  called  Guanahani. 
Columbus  called  it  San  Salvador.  For  a  long  time  it  was 
supposed  .to  be  the  island  which  is  marked  as  Cat  Island 
on  the  maps.  But  now  it  is  believed  to  be  Watling 
Island,  one  of  the  Bahamas,  a  coral  rock  on  which  the 
winds  have  deposited  a  little  soil,  ^nd  trees  have  grown 
from  seeds  blown  from  other  islands.  Columbus  stayed 
there  several  days,  exchanging  glass  beads  for  balls  of  cot- 
ton, rolls  of  tobacco,  and  little  rings  of  gold,  which  the 
natives  wore  in  their  noses.  Then  he  sailed  to  other 
'islands  near  by,  some  of  which  were  more  beautiful  than 
San  Salvador  in  their  rich  tropical  foliage  and  their  bright 
clear  waters. 

On  their  shores  he  found  curious  fish,  pink,  and  silver, 
and  striped,  with  yellow  fins,  hog-fish,  purple  and  scarlet 
fish,  flying  fish,  and  whales;  strange  monstrous  crabs,  queer 
lizards  and  iguanas,  with  rows  of  white  teeth  and  sharp 
claws  ;  and  in  the  woods  a  variety  of  parrots  and  birds  of 
brilliant  plumage,  flying  and  singing  over  meadows  in 
which  flowers  and  fruit  perfumed  the  air.  He  found  one 


1492-1493] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTOKY  OF  SPAIN 


163 


thing  which  was  worth  more  than  all  the  rest— the  pota- 
to. But  Columbus  had  not  sailed  across  the  ocean  to  see 
pretty  birds,  or  strange  fish,  or  green  lizards,  or  flowers, 
or  even  potatoes.  He  wanted  gold,  and  that  he  had  not 
found.  The  natives  told  him  that  there  was  an  abundance 


VISION   ON  THE  VOYAGE 

of  gold  and  pearls  too  in  the  island  of  Cuba  ;  therefore  he 
weighed  anchor,  and  to  Cuba  he  went. 

This  island,  again,  he  said,  was  the  fairest  ever  seen  by 
the  eye  of  man,  with  great  tall  palms  and  giant  trees  full 
of  singing  birds,  and  fields  planted  with  corn  and  sweet- 
potatoes.  He  found  here  guinea-pigs  and  musk-deer  and 


164  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1492-1493 

a  queer  fish,  called  a  coffer-fish,  which  wore  a  coat  of  mail 
from  its  head  to  its  tail ;  likewise  sugar-cane,  bananas, 
cocoanuts,  and  cassava,  out  of  which  they  made  bread.  But 
no  gold. 

The  natives  said  he  must  go  farther  on — to  the  island 
which  Columbus  called  Hispaniola,  his  successors  named 
San  Domingo,  and  of  which  one  end  is  now  called  Hayti, 
and  the  other  end  Dominica. 

Here  again  he  found  a  lovely  country,  spreading  trees,  in 
which  nightingales  sang,  and  a  great  abundance  of  fish  in 
the  waters  round  the  island.  He  also  bought  from  the 
natives,  in  exchange  for  beads  and  cloth,  a  few  plates  of 
gold,  not  many  nor  large  of  their  kind.  But  the  native 
chief  told  Columbus  that  if  it  was  gold  he  wanted  he 
could  show  him  a  place  where  he  could  load  his  ships  with 
it,  only  it  was  a  little  farther  on.  There  were  whole 
mountains  of  gold  a  few  days'  sail  farther  west.  Columbus 
said  he  would  see  those  mountains. 

But  on  Christmas  Sve,  as  the  Santa  Maria  was  sailing 
round  an  island,  Columbus  and  his  helmsman  fell  asleep, 
and  their  vessel  ran  on  a  sand  bank,  where  the  cruel  waves 
battered  the  life  out  of  her  on  the  bottom.  The  Pinta 
was  cruising  on  her  own  account;  and  nothing  remained 
of  the  fleet  but  the  little  Nina.  With  her  Columbus  tried 
to  find  his  way  to  the  islands  with  the  mountains  of  gold. 
But  his  men  were  anxious  to  see  their  homes,  and  to  tell 
of  the  new  world  they  had  found.  Forty-two  of  them, 
who  were  willing  to  stay  in  the  new  country,  Columbus 
planted  in  a  fort  which  he  built  at  a  place  he  christened 
Navidad,  in  Hispaniola;  with  the  rest,  and  a  few  natives 
who  were  anxious  to  see  the  world,  on  January  4th,  1493, 
he  started  homeward  in  the  Nina. 

It  was  a  dreadful  voyage.  After  the  expedition  had 
been  a  fortnight  at  sea  the  provisions  gave  out,  and  the 
crew  had  to  live  on  the  flesh  of  tunnies  and  sharks  which 
they  caught.  Then  a  storm  overtook  them,  and  though 
Columbus  on  his  knees  agreed  to  carry  a  candle  to  our 


1492-1493] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF 


165 


Lady  of  Guadaloupe,  and  to  undertake  a  pilgrimage  to 
Saint  Clara's  shrine  ;  though  the  entire  crew  vowed  to 
walk  barefoot  and  in  their  shirts  to  offer  thanks  for  their 
rescue  at  the  first  church  they  found — if  they  ever  found  a 
church  again — the  little  Nina  nevertheless  came  very  near 
foundering  with  all  on  board. 


LANDING  OF. COLUMBUS 


Columbus  wrote  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  a  touching 
account  of  his  distress  : 

"  Above  all,"  he  said,  "  my  sorrows  were  multiplied  when 
I  thought  of  my  two  sons  at  Cordova,  at  school,  left  desti- 
tute of  friends  in  a  strange  land  before  I  was  known  to 


166  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [1492-1493 

have  performed  such  service  that  your  Majesties  might  be 
inclined  to  relieve  them." 

Happily  the  wind  moderated,  and  after  much  further 
buffeting  by  the  waves  the  Nina  managed  to  cast  anchor 
off  the  Portuguese  island  of  Santa  Maria,  and  to  land  her 
men  to  fulfil  their  vow.  The  Portuguese  governor  was 
for  holding  them  as  prisoners,  on  the  ground  that  they  had 
made  discoveries  which  should  by  right  have  been  made 
by  King  John  of  Portugal.  But  Columbus  swore  a  great 
oath  that  if  one  of  the  Nina's  crew  was  touched  he  would 
sweep  every  living  creature  off  the  island,  and  the  Nina 
sailed  without  further  interference. 

Her  troubles  were  not  ended,  however  ;  for  no  sooner 
had  she  got  fairly  to  sea  again  than  the  tempest  rose  once 
more,  her  sails  were  torn  from  the  roasts,  and  the  little 
craft,  helpless  as  a  cork  on  the  top  of  the  waves,  was 
dashed  hither  and  thither  in  a  mighty  sea,  with  high  winds, 
a  deluge  of  rain,  and  constant  thunder  and  lightning.  Once 
more  Columbus  vowed  to  go  on  a  pilgrimage  to  our  Lady 
of  La  Cinta  in  his  shirt  and  barefoot,  and  he  had  hardly 
taken  the  vow  when  the  land  appeared  over  the  weather 
bow,  and  a  tremendous  succession  of  high  seas  carried  the 
Nina  into  the  mouth  of  the  river  Tagus. 

King  John's  first  idea  was  to  lock  up  Columbus  in 
prison.  He  could  not  forgive  himself  for  having  been  so 
stupid  as  to  let  the  glory  of  the  discovery  slip  through  his 
fingers  and  go  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  But  by  this 
time  the  discoverer  had  landed,  the  people  of  Lisbon  had 
seen  the  Indians  and  the  gold,  everybody  was  in  the  wild- 
est excitement,  Columbus  was  the  hero  of  the  hour,  and 
there  would  have  been  trouble  if  he  had  been  molested. 
So  King  John  put  the  best  face  on  the  matter,  smothered 
his  disappointment,  invited  Columbus  to  court,  and  bade 
him  sit  by  his  side  with  his  hat  on  his  head. 

When  a  man  was  allowed  to  sit  by  King  John  with  his 
hat  on  his  head  people  understood  that  he  was  somebody 
quite  out  of  the  common  run.  But  when  the  great  lords 


1492-1493]  A   CHILD'S   HISTORY   OF   SPAIN  *  167 

of  Portugal  heard  the  story  which  Columbus  had  to  tell, 
and  his  account  of  the  splendid  countries  he  had  seized  for 
Spain,  and  when  they  remembered  that  the  Pope  had 
given  all  these  countries  to  Portugal,  they  declared  that 
such  things  could  not  be  endured,  Columbus  must  be 
killed,  and  a  fleet  sent  out  to  rediscover  the  islands  on 
which  he  had  landed. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  SECOND  VOYAGE 

A.D.  1493-1498 

ON  reflection,  King  John  of  Portugal  refrained  from 
killing  Columbus,  and  he  sailed  to  Palos,  where  the  peo- 
ple, as  you  may  imagine,  were  very  glad  to  see  him  again, 
and  his  good  old  friend,  the  priest  Perez,  fell  on  his  neck 
for  joy. 

The  king  and  queen  were  at  Barcelona,  and  thither  Colum- 
bus proceeded  to  meet  them,  making  a  triumphant  march 
through  Spain,  like  a  conqueror.  In  every  city  he  passed 
through  the  people  turned  out  to  welcome  him  with 
shouts  and  flowers  and  music.  At  Barcelona  the  city  made 
a  grand  holiday  of  his  reception.  A  squadron  of  cav- 
aliers, splendidly  mounted  and  bearing  banners,  rode  out 
to  escort  him  into  the  city.  Houses  were  decorated  with 
flags,  streets  were  densely  crowded,  and  the  house-tops  cov- 
ered with  spectators,  who  waved  handkerchiefs.  A  pro- 
cession was  formed.  Columbus  rode  in  the  middle,  leading 
six  Indians  in  plumes  and  gaudy  costume;  the  members 
of  his  crew  followed  in  their  best  clothes,  bearing  products 
of  the  islands  they  had  seen. 

Trumpets  blew  blasts  of  welcome  as  high  court  officials, 
bowing  to  the  ground,  led  the  discoverer,  or  the  Admiral, 
as  he  was  called,  to  the  throne -room  where  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  sat  side  by  side  in  solemn  state.  He  knelt  to 
kiss  their  hands,  but  they  raised  him  and  bade  him  sit  in  an 
arm-chair  opposite  them,  while  he  told  them  the  story  of 
his  voyage.  The  courtiers'  jaws  dropped  when  they  saw 
a  common  man  sitting  in  the  presence  of  majesty;  they 
lifted  up  their  eyes  as  if  to  say,  What  is  the  world  coming 


1493-1498]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  171 

to  ?  To  them  the  finding  of  a  New  World  was  far  less 
important  than  the  seating  of  a  commoner  in  the  presence 
of  royalty.  The  monarch  treated  Columbus  like  an  equal. 
Isabella  invited  him  to  her  parlor,  and  was  never  tired  of 
hearing  him  talk  about  the  New  World,  and  Ferdinand 
took  him  out  riding,  as  if  he  had  been  a  lord  of  high  de- 
gree. 

Most  of  the  nobles  made  much  of  him.  One  of  them 
was  captious,  and  sneeringly  said  at  a  public  banquet  that 
if  Columbus  had  not  discovered  the  Islands  of  the  West, 
some  one  else  would  have  done  so.  It  was  then  that  Co- 
lumbus asked  the  party  whether  any  of  them  could  make 
an  egg  stand  on  end.  As  none  of  them  could,  he  seized 
the  egg,  brought  it  down  with  such  force  .on  the  table 
that  the  shell  broke,  and  the  egg  easily  stood  upright  on 
the  broken  end.  "  Any  one  could  do  that,"  said  the  noble. 
"Yes,"  replied  Columbus;  "so  any  one  could  have  dis- 
covered the  New  World  if  he  had  known  how  to  do  it." 

A  new  expedition  of  seventeen  vessels  was  fitted  out  at 
Cadiz,  and  the  command  given  to  Columbus.  But  what 
will  surprise  you,  the  general  direction  of  the  whole  busi- 
ness was  intrusted  to  an  archdeacon  named  Fonseca.  It 
may  puzzle  you  to  figure  out  what  archdeacons  had  to  do 
with  naval  expeditions.  Another  thing  at  which  you  may 
be  astonished  is,  that  a  dispute  arising  between  Spain  and 
Portugal  about  the  ownership  of  the  new  countries,  the 
Pope  decided  that  all  strange  countries  which  were  not  in- 
habited by  Christians  should  be  divided  between  Spain 
and  Portugal,  Spain  taking  those  which  were  west  of  the 
Canaries,  and  Portugal  those  which  were  east.  It  was 
hard  enough  on  the  people  of  Asia  and  Africa  and  Amer- 
ica not  to  have  had  a  chance  of  being  Christians;  to 
lose  their  lands  as  well  was  especially  severe;  don't  you 
think  so? 

The  fleet  sailed  on  September  25th,  1493,  and  taking  a 
more  southerly  course  than  the  first  expedition,  it  first 
sighted  Dominica,  and  then  in  turn  visited  Guadaloupe, 


172  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN          [1493-1498 

Montserrat,  Nevis,  Santa  Cruz,  and  other  islands,  which 
Columbus  christened.  One  of  them  he  called  after  his 
flag-ship,  the  Marie  Galante — a  name  which  it  bears  to  this 
day.  Sailors  who  landed  on  these  islands  lost  themselves 
in  the  dense  thickets  of  the  interior.  Plants  grow  so  thick- 
ly in  that  luxuriant  soil  that  to  this  day  a  traveller  has  to 
cut  his  way  through  the  underbrush  with  a  sword-knife. 

On  these  islands  Columbus  found  a  race  of  natives  dif- 
ferent from  the  kind,  gentle,  timid  creatures  he  had  met 
on  the  Bahamas  and  in  Hispaniola.  He  called  them  Car- 
ibs.  They  were  fighters  and  cannibals,  men  and  women 
alike.  They  fought  with  spears,  hatchets,  and  bows  and 
arrows,  and  sometimes  their  arrows  were  poisoned.  They 
ate  dogs,  lizards,  snakes,  wild  birds,  fish,  with  corn,  cassava, 
and  pine-apples.  They  were  the  most  vigorous  Indians 
Columbus  had  met.  Some  of  them  wore  clothes,  and  they 
had  a  system  of  laws.  But  they  were  always  at  war  with 
their  neighbors,  and  after  a  battle  they  ate  their  prisoners. 

Columbus  was  not  sorry  to  leave  these  savages;  his  fleet 
sailed  to  the  place  in  Hispaniola  where  he  had  left  forty- 
two  men  of  his  first  expedition  to  hold  the  fort  he  had  built. 
He  was  greatly  shocked  when  he  got  there  to  find  that 
the  fort  was  gone,  and  the  men  gone  too.  After  long 
search  he  found  a  few  skulls  and  some  bones.  It  turned 
out  that  the  men  had  quarrelled  among  themselves  over 
booty,  had  robbed  the  Indians,  and  had  behaved  infamous- 
ly to  the  Indian  women ;  whereupon  a  tribe  of  Caribs  land- 
ed on  Hispaniola  and  murdered  them  all. 

This  was  a  bad  beginning  for  the  conquest.  But  Co- 
lumbus plucked  up  spirit,  built  him  a  new  fort,  which  he 
called  Isabella,  put  a  garrison  into  it,  and  with  the  rest  of 
his  force  explored  the  coasts  of  Cuba,  Jamaica,  and  Hispan- 
iola. In  the  two  latter  he  found  rivers  with  gold  in  the 
sand  and  gravel,  and  he  was  beginning  to  hope  that  he  was 
going  to  realize  his  old  visions,  when  he  was  taken  ill  and 
lay  five  months  in  his  bed  in  a  fever  which  deprived  him 
of  speech,  hearing,  sense,  and  memory.  Many  of  his  men 


A   SPANISH  CARAVEL 

Exact  reproduction  of  the  ship  in  which  Columbus  sailed  on  hi»  voyage  to  America.    Sent  to  the  Colombian 
World's  Fair  by  the  Spanish  Government. 


1493-1498]  A   CHILD'S   HISTORY   OF   SPAIN  175 

took  the  fever ;  it  was  probably  while  it  was  raging  that 
one  of  them  saw  a  fish  as  big  as  a  whale,  with  a  shell  like 
a  turtle*,  two  fins  like  wings,  and  a  head  sticking  out  of  the 
water  as  large  as  a  wine-cask. 

When  he  got  better  Columbus  led  his  men  on  one  expe- 
dition after  another,  partly  in  the  hope  of  finding  gold, 
and  partly  to  divert  their  minds.  But  the  fever  kept 
spreading,  and  with  it  other  new  and  strange  diseases 
which  the  doctors  could  not  cure.  And  as  many  of  the 
men  whom  Columbus  had  led  across  the  ocean  were  idle, 
and  would  not  work  in  the  hot  sun,  provisions  began  to 
grow  scarce.  At  the  same  time  parties  of  Spaniards  who 
roamed  the  island  in  search  of  gold  behaved  so  badly  that 
even  the  meekest  Indians  turned  upon  them  and  attacked 
them.  This  was  a  dark  time  for  the  discoverers  of  the 
Now  World. 

Driven  beyond  bearing  by  the  misconduct  of  the  Span- 
iards, the  Indians  gathered  all  their  fighting  men  into  an 
army,  and  marched  down  to  drive  the  strangers  into  the 
sea.  But  the  poor  naked  creatures  could  do  little  against 
soldiers  who  wore  coats  of  mail,  and  fought  with  arque- 
buses. The  battle  ended  in  a  rout,  and  so  many  of  the  Ind- 
ians were  killed  that  the  survivors  submitted  to  their  fate, 
bowed  their  heads  meekly,  and  bore  whatever  their  cruel 
conquerors  chose  to  inflict. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  at  this  time  Columbus,  who  was 
very  much  concerned  about  the  salvation  of  the  Indians' 
souls,  proposed  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  to  make  slaves 
of  them,  as  the  best  way  of  converting  them  to  Christian- 
ity, and  I  am  not  surprised  that  the  pure  and  noble  woman 
who  was  queen  wrote  on  the  margin  of  his  letter  : 

"  This  should  not  be  done  till  every  other  way  of  con- 
verting them  has  been  tried." 

But  new  troubles  were  in  store  for  the  discoverer. 

Away  across  the  ocean,  in  the  city  of  Seville,  Archdeacon 
Fonseca  was  jealous  and  spiteful;  he  intrigued  against  Co- 
lumbus, while  sailors  who  had  sailed  under  the  Admiral 


176  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN           [1493-1498 

and  had  been  sent  home  told  false  stories  of  his  doings  in 
the  islands.  Spaniards  began  to  complain  that  he  was  not 
sending  much  gold  home,  and  it  was  whispered  that  he 
was  keeping  it  for  himself.  People  went  about  saying  that 
Columbus  was  not  the  man  for  the  place,  that  if  others 
whom  they  could  name  had  been  put  in  command,  things 
would  have  turned  out  differently. 

Rumors  of  this  spite-work  reached  the  ears  of  Colum- 
bus, and  he  resolved  to  go  home  to  face  his  enemies.  He 
filled  a  ship  with  Indian  slaves,  embarked  for  Europe,  and 
after  dangers  from  storm  and  perils  from  hunger — at  one 
time  the  ship  ran  out  of  provisions  and  the  sailors  could 
hardly  be  kept  from  eating  the  Indian  slaves  —  he  landed 
in  Spain  in  May,  1496.  The  king  and  queen  received 
him  well,  but  the  Spanish  people  were  tired  of  him.  They 
had  heard  stories  of  the  sufferings  of  the  adventurers  in 
Hispaniola.  They  had  been  disappointed  at  the  small 
amount  of  gold  which  had  come  from  the  New  World. 
Like  other  races,  the  Spaniards  were  fickle;  the  very  people 
who  had  roared  themselves  hoarse  three  years  before, 
when  Columbus  first  arrived  from  the  Indies,  now  turned 
their  backs  on  him,  and  growled  that  the  archdeacon  was 
probably  right  after  all,  and  that  Columbus  was  nothing 
but  a  crank.  King  Ferdinand  grew  cool  to  him.  Queen 
Isabella  alone  stood  by  him,  and  still  cherished  faith  in  his 
honor  and  his  wisdom. 

He  had  offended  her  when  he  brought  home  a  ship- 
load of  Indians,  and  wanted  to  sell  them  as  slaves  in  the 
market-place  of  Seville — the  money  they  brought  to  go  to 
the  queen.  She  would  have  no  such  slave  sales  in  her  king- 
dom, nor  any  blood-money  in  her  pocket.  Such  Indians  as 
wished  to  stay  in  Spain  she  bade  the  guards  set  free;  the 
others  she  ordered  Columbus  to  take  back  to  their  own 
country.  And  as  Columbus,  after  all  his  discoveries,  was 
so  poor  that  he  could  hardly  buy  himself  clothes,  and  could 
not  charter  a  ship  to  return  to  the  islands  he  had  found, 
she  bought  for  him  two  vessels,  which  he  tried  to  man 


1493-1498]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN*  177 

with  volunteers.  But  the  time  had  passed  Avhen  young 
men  of  ambition  craved  to  sail  on  voyages  of  discovery. 
TSrobody  was  willing  to  take  service  under  Columbus.  To 
fit  out  his  vessels  he  had  to  man  them  with  the  worst  con- 
victs from  the  prisons,  with  which  sorry  crew  he  embarked 
from  Spain  on  his  third  voyage  in  May,  1498. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE   DEATH  OF   COLUMBUS 

A.D.  1498-1506 

AGAIN,  in  1498,  Columbus  crossed  the  Atlantic,  having 
found  places  for  his  two  sons  as  pages  of  Queen  Isabel  La. 
This  time  he  first  sighted  a  three-pronged  island,  to  which 
he  gave  the  name  of  Trinidad;  he  sailed  along  the  coast  of 
the  country  we  call  Venezuela,  which  forms  part  of  the 
continent  of  South  America;  likewise  the  shore  of  Central 
America,  where  he  found  gold  mines,  from  which  he  got 
nuggets.  One  of  the  places  he  saw  was  so  beautiful  that 
he  felt  sure  that  it  was  the  garden  of  Paradise,  where 
Adam  and  Eve  lived. 

In  these  voyages  and  travels  he  collected  gold  and  pearls, 
which  he  set  aside  for  his  good  friend  Isabella;  but  when 
lie  returned  to  his  city  in  Hispaniola,  he  found  everything 
in  disorder.  You  remember  that  on  his  last  voyage  he  had 
to  man  his  ships  with  the  refuse  of  the  jails.  This  refuse 
no  sooner  found  itself  in  freedom  in  a  lovely  climate  in  a 
country  abounding  in  food  and  inhabited  by  a  helpless 
people,  than  it  broke  loose  from  all  restraint,  and  fell  to 
robbing,  murdering,  and  outraging  the  natives.  A  re- 
bellion against  Columbus  was  headed  by  a  horrible  wretch, 
named  Roldan,  who,  strange  to  say,  had  been  appointed 
chief -justice. 

In  the  mean  time,  in  Spain,  the  archdeacon  had  never 
ceased  to  intrigue  against  Columbus,  to  tell  false  stories 
about  him,  and  to  try  to  undermine  him  in  the  opinion  of 
the  king  and  queen.  He  could  the  more  easily  do  this  as 
Queen  Isabella's  faith  in  him  was  beginning  to  be  some- 
what shaken.  She  had  distinctly  forbidden  the  enslave- 


FRONT  OF  SPANISH  CHURCH. 


1498-1506]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  181 

raent  of  the  Indians  ;  in  spite  of  which  five  ship-loads  of 
them  —  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls  —  had  arrived  in 
Spain  for  sale.  The  queen  set  them  free,  and  sharply 
rebuked  the  captains  of  the  ships  which  had  brought 
them.  She  thought  Columbus  should  have  prevented 
this.  So  when  the  archdeacon  murmured  that  it  was  high 
time  some  one  took  Columbus's  place  in  the  New  World 
she  at  first  demurred,  then  hesitated,  a'nd  at  last  consented  ; 
a  hectoring,  bullying  soldier  named  Bobadilla  was  despatch- 
ed to  Hispaniola. 

This  man  no  sooner  landed  than  he  trumped  up  charges 
against  Columbus,  and,  before  any  trial,  seized  him,  and 
though  he  was  ill  in  health  and  broken  in  spirit,  clapped 
him  in  irons  and  thrust  him  into  a  dungeon.  Chains  were 
riveted  round  his  ankles  and  his  wrists,  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  sleep  on  the  cold  stones  of  the  prison,  where  his 
teeth  could  be  heard  chattering  half  the  night.  His  two 
brothers  were  also  seized  and  jailed  by  his  side.  Then, 
after  a  pretended  inquiry  into  the  facts,  Bobadilla  ordered 
Columbus  on  board  ship,  ironed  as  he  was,  and  sent  him 
off  to  Spain.  When  he  landed,  the  king  and  queen  prompt- 
ly set  him  at  liberty,  gave  him  money,  and  soothed  him 
with  kind  words.  It  is  said  that  when  Isabella  saw  him, 
with  his  bent  back,  his  snow-white  head,  and  his  tottering 
step,  she  burst  into  tears. 

She  recalled  Bobadilla.  He,  taking  ship  for  Spain  in 
company  with  Chief -justice  Roldan,  was  wrecked  and 
drowned  on  the  way,  and  so  there  was  an  end  of  him. 
But  the  queen  did  not  forgive  the  slavery  business.  The 
governorship  of  Hispaniola  did  not  go  back  to  the  old  ad- 
miral, but  went  to  a  friend  of  the  archdeacon's — Ovando  by 
name.  It  was  not  till  May,  1502,  after  two  years'  idleness, 
that  Columbus  got  leave  to  revisit  the  world  he  had  found. 

When  he  reached  Hispaniola  he  found  that  he  was  no- 
body. Ovando  was  supreme,  and  his  officers  paid  scant 
respect  to  the  old  admiral.  He  was  given  a  couple  of  ships, 

and  allowed  to  go  on  exploring  as  before.     He  reached  the 
12* 


182  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1498-1506 

coast  of  Central  America,  and  kept  wandering  up  and  down 
in  search  of  a  strait  or  passage  to  Asia.  I  need  not  tell 
you  he  found  none.  He  found  natives  of  various  races, 
some  of  whom  were  at  first  friendly,  but  who  rose  in  wrath 
and  fury  when  the  Spaniards  misbehaved.  The  season  was 
stormy,  and  Columbus  more  than  once  narrowly  escaped 
shipwreck.  Once  or  twice,  when  he  found  a  place  where 
he  could  land,  he  and  his  men  went  ashore,  and  nearly  per- 
ished from  hunger.  Ovando  let  a  whole  year  pass  without 
sending  them  any  provisions. 

Returning  to  Hispaniola,  Columbus  demanded  his  share 
of  the  products  of  his  discovery,  according  to  the  terms  of 
his  contract  with  the  king  and  queen.  Ovando  would  not 
let  him  have  a  ducat.  Thus,  in  his  old  age,  after  all  his 
toil  and  its  splendid  results,  he  found  himself  penniless 
and  houseless.  He  begged  to  be  sent  home.  Ovando  gave 
him  a  ship  which  was  leaky,  which  lost  her  masts  and 
nearly  went  to  the  bottom  in  a  storm.  He  shifted  to  an- 
other, which  kept  afloat,  but  was  so  slow  that  he  was  fifty- 
eight  days  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Guadalquivir.  He 
was  unable  to  walk  when  he  arrived  ;  his  men  carried  him 
ashore,  and  in  a  litter  the  battered  and  bruised  old  veteran 
was  conveyed  to  Seville  to  die. 

Misfortune  had  laid  a  heavy  hand  on  him.  Less  than 
three  weeks  after  his  arrival  his  good  and  stanch  friend 
Isabella  died.  Her  husband,  Ferdinand,  looked  upon  the 
New  World  as  a  place  to  get  money  out  of,  and  neither 
cared  how  he  got  it,  nor  felt  any  gratitude  to  him  who  had 
enabled  him  to  get  it.  At  the  time  Columbus  returned 
from  his  fourth  and  last  voyage,  Spain  was  receiving 
about  half  a  million  dollars  (of  our  money)  from  the  West 
Indies  each  year.  One-eighth  or  one-tenth  of  this  belonged 
to  Columbus,  under  the  bargain  he  had  made  with  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella.  They  had  not  paid  him  a  dollar,  and 
now  when  he  wrote  to  Ferdinand  to  say  that  he  had  not 
money  enough  to  pay  his  bill  at  the  inn  at  Seville,  the 
king  not  only  sent  him  nothing,  but  would  not  even  an- 


1498-1506] 


A    CHILD  8    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN 


183 


swer  his  letter.  Columbus  persisted,  even  had  himself 
carried  into  the  king's  presence,  followed  him  from  Grana- 
da to  Segovia,  and  from  Segovia  to  Valladolid,  but  Ferdi- 
nand was  cold  and  immovable. 

"  It  appears,"  said  the  dying  old  admiral,  "  that  his  maj- 


DEATH-BED   OF   QUEEN   ISABELLA. 

esty  does  not  see  fit  to  fulfil  that  which  he  and  the  queen 
(who  is  now  in  glory)  promised  me  by  word  and  seal. 
For  me  to  contend  with  him  would  be  to  contend  against 
the  wind." 

He  had  a  flicker  of  hope  when  the  Archduke  Charles, 
who  married  the  Princess  Juana,  sent  him  word  that  he 
took  the  greatest  interest  in  his  discoveries.  But  Charles 


184  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1498-1506 

had  other  things  to  think  of,  and  the  old  sailor  gradually 
gave  up  the  struggle. 

His  infirmities  were  pressing  on  him  cruelly,  and  his 
pains  were  severe.  He  had  found  a  resting-place  in  a 
small  bare  room,  without  carpet  or  curtains,  in  a  mean  inn 
at  Valladolid,  where  hardly  any  one  knew  who  or  what  he 
had  been.  His  sons  and  one  or  two  of  their  friends  were 
with  him,  and  a  good  Franciscan  monk  clothed  him  in 
a  robe  of  the  bi-otherhood.  There  he  watched  the  ap- 
proach of  death.  When  he  felt  it  come,  on  May  20th, 
1506,  he  cried,  "Lord,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
soul  !"  and  died. 

When  it  was  announced  that  Columbus  was  dead,  King 
Ferdinand  knew  that  he  would  worry  him  no  more,  and  he 
ordered  a  splendid  funeral.  Seven  years  afterwards  the 
admiral's  body  was  removed  to  Seville  :  twenty-three 
years  after  that  it  was  again  removed  to  the  cathedral  at 
San  Domingo,  in  Hispaniola.  Nearly  a  hundred  years  ago, 
the  Spaniards  took  from  the  cathedral  at  San  Domingo  a 
casket,  which,  as  they  believed,  contained  the  remains  of 
Columbus,  and  reburied  it  in  the  cathedral  at  Havana. 
But  it  seems  doubtful  whether  they  removed  the  right 
casket.  It  is  now  said  that  the  one  which  was  carried  to 
Havana  contained  the  body  of  some  priest. 

Wherever  his  mortal  remains  lie,  his  fame  fills  the  world, 
and  his  family  received  honors  which  were  denied  to  its 
founder.  His  son  succeeded  to  his  title  of  admiral  and 
viceroy,  and  married  the  sister  of  the  great  Duke  of 
Alva,  of  whom  you  will  presently  hear.  His  brother  was 
given  a  high  command  in  the  New  World.  The  family 
became  one  of  the  most  considerable  in  Spain  ;  one  branch 
married  into  the  reigning  family  of  Portugal  ;  the  head  of 
another  branch  married  the  Infanta  Eulalia,  and  lately 
visited  this  country  on  the  occasion  of  the  World's  Fair  at 
Chicago. 

You  will,  of  course,  agree  with  the  Spanish  grandee  who 
said  that  if  Columbus  had  not  discovered  America  some- 


1498-1506]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  185 

body  else  would.  But  you  will  perceive  that  so  much 
may  be  said  of  all  discoveries.  The  glory  of  a  discoverer 
is  none  the  less  because  some  one  else  might  have  won  it 
if  he  had  been  in  time.  When  Columbus  started  out  on 
his  westward  voyage  the  wisest  men  of  his  day  said  that 
the  enterprise  was  foolhardy,  and  that  its  chief  was  a 
maniac.  As  you  have  read,  it  took  eight  years  to  convince 
the  Spanish  court  that  the  experiment  was  worth  trying. 
A  man  who  perseveres  against  such  obstacles,  and  whose 
efforts  are  crowned  with  success,  you  will  always  consider 
one  of  the  heroes  of  whom  the  world  must  be  proud. 

When  Columbus  had  made  his  landing  on  this  hemi- 
sphere, on  October  12th,  1492,  other  discoverers  followed. 
John  Cabot  landed  in  Labrador  on  June  24th,  1497,  Sebas- 
tian Cabot  coasted  along  the  shore  of  the  Atlantic  States 
in  1498  —  the  year  in  which  the  Portuguese,  Vasco  de 
Gama,  rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Amerigo  Ves- 
pucci, after  whom  this  continent  is  named,  discovered  the 
coast  of  Brazil  between  1501  and  1503.  There  would  have 
been  more  explorers,  especially  under  the  English  flag,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  decree  of  the  pope  awarding  all  America 
to  Spain.  To  explore  in  the  face  of  that  decree  meant  to 
make  war  on  Spain,  and  England  was  not  ready  yet.  So 
it  came  about  that  for  the  better  part  of  a  century  after 
Columbus  no  explorers  came  to  this  continent  except  un- 
der the  Spanish  flag. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

THE   END   OF  FERDINAND   AND   ISABELLA 
A.D.  1475-1516 

Ix  order  to  give  you  a  connected  account  of  the  conquest 
of  Granada  and  of  the  discoveries  of  Columbus,  I  have 
passed  over  events  in  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
of  which  it  is  necessary  that  you  should  know  something, 
and  have  made  little  or  no  mention  of  some  persons  of 
whose  lives  you  would  like  to  hear. 

One  of  these  was  Cardinal  Mendoza,  Archbishop  of 
Toledo,  and  prime -minister  of  Spain  for  twenty  years. 
He  was  a  friend  of  Columbus  when  the  great  sailor  sorely 
needed  a  friend.  He  was  a  man  of  lofty  mind,  a  lover  of 
learning,  and  a  thorough  gentleman  of  the  world,  adored 
by  ladies  as  he  was  respected  by  men.  His  income  was 
the  largest  in  Spain,  and  he  spent  it  royally,  keeping  an 
army  of  his  own,  and  a  palace  full  of  young  pages  belong- 
ing to  the  first  families,  whom  he  took  care  to  educate. 
The  people  loved  him;  as  he  paced  the  streets  on  his  snow- 
white  mule,  whose  hide  could  scarcely  be  seen  for  capari- 
sons of  cloth  of  gold  and  velvet,  they  fell  on  their  knees 
and  besought  his  blessing,  begging  to  be  allowed  to  touch 
his  foot  or  his  stirrup  with  their  lips.  He  was  a  faithful 
and  loyal  servant  to  Queen  Isabella;  she  rarely  acted  with- 
out consulting  him.  When  he  was  on  his  death-bed  she 
asked  whom  she  would  recommend  as  his  successor.  He 
designated  a  friar  named  Ximenes,  and  the  queen  appointed 
him  accordingly. 

He  was  a  very  different  person  from  Mendoza.  He  was 
wise,  politic,  and  vigorous ;  but  also  a  bigot,  a  religious 
enthusiast,  an  ascetic,  and  a  fanatic.  As  a  young  man  he 


1475-1516]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  187 

was  always  mortifying  his  flesh.  He  wore  a  shirt  of  coarse 
hair  next  his  skin,  and  scourged  himself  at  regular  inter- 
vals. He  lived  in  a  log  cabin  he  had  built  with  his  own 
hands  in  a  chestnut  wood,  ate  herbs,  and  drank  from  a 
stream.  A  person  who  led  such  a  life  as  this  in  our  day 
would  simply  be  regarded  as  a  crank,  and  his  neighbors 
would  watch  him  lest  he  went  mad.  But  four  hundred 
years  ago  in  Spain  these  oddities  were  regarded  as  proofs 
of  sanctity,  and  Ximenes  was  looked  upon  as  a  very  supe- 
rior order  of  saint  indeed.  People  from  far  and  wide  went 
to  his  hut  to  confess  their  sins  to  so  holy  a  priest.  His 
reputation  rose  so  high  that  in  the  very  year  when  Granada 
fell  and  Columbus  discovered  the  West  Indies  he  was  ap- 
pointed confessor  to  the  queen. 

He  was  a  lean,  pale  monk,  who  looked  as  if  he  had  been 
starved — as  indeed  he  probably  had  been — but  he  feared 
nobody,  and  was  determined  to  do  his  duty  as  he  under- 
stood it.  When  he  was  directed  to  inspect  the  various 
monasteries  of  his  order,  he  travelled  on  foot  and  begged 
his  food  by  the  way -side,  which  caused  much  laughter 
among  the  gorgeous  priests  who  lived  like  princes  in  their 
lordly  palaces.  I  do  not  see  myself  that  anything  is  gained 
for  the  cause  of  true  religion  by  an  affectation  of  poverty, 
nor  do  I  understand  why  a  priest  who  had  plenty  of  money 
should  have  needed  to  beg  his  bread.  But  I  observe  that 
by  so  doing  Ximenes  made  himself  much  thought  of  among 
the  ignorant,  and  I  suspect  that  was  his  object. 

When  he  was  appointed  Archbishop  of  Toledo  he  was 
very  much  surprised,  and  said:  "There  is  some  mistake; 
the  appointment  is  not  for  me."  He  said  he  wanted  to 
live  and  die  a  simple  priest  in  his  cloister.  But  I  do  not 
observe  that  after  he  was  well  settled  in  his  office  he  was 
squeamish  in  exercising  his  powers,  though  he  allowed  it 
to  be  understood  that  he  still  ate  only  the  plainest  food 
and  wore  a  hair  shirt  under  his  silken  robe. 

After  the  fall  of  Granada  he  took  the  Moors  in  hand. 
Many  of  these,  as  you  remember,  became  baptized  to  avoid 


188  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1475-1516 

trouble;  others  remained  faithful  to  their  old  creed.  One 
of  the  latter,  named  Negri,  was  seized  by  the  archbishop, 
and  given  in  charge  of  a  special  officer  who  was  bidden  to 
"  clear  the  film  from  his  eyes."  The  officer  soon  reported 
that  a  few  days  of  jail  and  fetters  and  fasting  had  cleared 
his  prisoner's  eyesight,  and,  sure  enough,  Negri  made  no 
further  objection  to  baptism.  The  darkness  of  the  dungeon, 
observed  the  archdeacon,  shrewdly,  poured  light  on  the 
soul  of  the  infidel. 

It  was  Ximenes  who  burned  the  Arabic  Library  at  Gra- 
nada, and  it  was  his  persecution  of  the  Moors  which  led 
to  the  revolt  which  nearly  wrested  the  city  out  of  Chris- 
tian hands.  He  never  rested  till  for  a  time  he  drove  botli 
Moslems  and  Jews  out  of  Spain. 

But  he  was  something  more  than  a  fanatic.  He  was 
capable  of  planning  a  policy  for  a  nation,  or  a  campaign 
for  an  army.  In  concert  with  the  great  soldier  Gonsalvo 
de  Cordova,  of  whom  I  shall  presently  tell  you,  he  planned 
the  campaigns  in  Italy  where  the  Spanish  troops  won  such 
renown.  And  having  made  up  his  mind  to  capture  the 
city  of  Oran,  in  Africa,  which  was  a  great  Moorish  place 
of  trade,  and  finding  King  Ferdinand  cold  on  the  subject 
because  of  the  expense,  he  agreed  to  defray  the  whole 
cost  of  the  expedition,  and  to  pay  the  wages  of  the  gar- 
rison out  of  his  own  income.  Ferdinand  was  always  ready 
to  undertake  any  enterprise  which  other  people  were  to 
pay  for.  He  gave  his  consent  to  Ximenes's  plan. 

An  army  was  landed  in  Africa,  and  marched  against 
Oran.  Ximenes  mounted  his  white  mule,  and  rode  along 
the  ranks  in  his  cardinal's  robes  with  a  sword  by  his  side. 
A  friar  carried  a  silver  cross  before  him,  and  monks  fol- 
lowed him  all  in  their  priestly  gowns,  and  armed  with  cim- 
et.ers.  He  preached  a  stirring  sermon  to  the  troops,  and 
offered  to  lead  the  assault ;  but  that  was  not  necessary. 
The  Spaniards  were  roused  by  the  stories  of  the  booty 
which  was  to  be  found  in  Oran;  they  rushed  into  the  place 
pell-mell,  and  put  the  people  to  the  sword.  The  cardinal 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  189 

returned  to  his  home  at  Alcala,  followed  by  a  train  of 
camels  laden  with  gold  and  silver  plate. 

After  this  he  became  more  powerful  than  ever,  and  when 
King  Ferdinand  died  he  was  recognized  as  regent  of  Spain, 
in  the  absence  of  King  Charles,  the  grandson  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  and  the  heir  to  the  throne.  But  the  regency 
did  not  last  long.  Ferdinand  died  in  January,  1516;  in 
September  Charles  left  Flanders  and  landed  in  Spain. 
The  cardinal  was  ill  abed,  and  did  not  go  to  meet  him. 
Some  weeks  after  the  landing  of  Charles,  Ximenes  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  the  king  stating  that  his  services 
would  be  no  longer  required.  It  killed  the  old  man. 

He  gave  his  last  days  to  religion — he  was  eighty -one 
years  old — and  groaning  aloud,  "In  thee,  O  Lord,  have  I 
trusted,"  he  expired.  His  corpse  was  dressed  in  his  priestly 
robes,  and  set  erect  in  a  chair  of  state,  where  thousands 
came  to  kiss  the  dead  hands  and  feet.  While  he  lived  he 
had  many  enemies;  after  his  death  his  memory  Avas  re- 
vered as  that  of  a  saint. 

You  will  perhaps  compare  him  with  another  great  priest, 
Richelieu,  Avho,  a  hundred  years  later,  ruled  France  as 
Ximenes  had  ruled  Spain.  In  some  points  they  were  alike. 
But  in  Richelieu  the  statesman  rose  above  the  churchman, 
while  Ximenes  never  forgot  that  he  was  a  priest.  If  Xim- 
enes was  a  hypocrite  in  early  life,  he  was  rigidly  honest 
towards  the  close.  He  believed  that  he  was  doing  that 
which  was  agreeable  in  the  eyes  of  God  when,  during  his 
term  of  power,  he  burned  alive  twenty-five  hundred  people 
on  the  ground  of  their  religion.  He  would  have  died  rather 
than  take  the  side  of  the  Protestants  against  the  Catholics 
as  Richelieu  did.  He  built  up  no  family  as  Richelieu  did ; 
his  vast  wealth  he  spent  in  his  lifetime  on  Spain  and  on 
the  poor,  and,  at  his  death,  he  left  it  to  a  college  he  had 
founded.  If  he  had  only  lived  in  an  age  of  toleration,  he 
would  have  been  a  man  whose  public  life,  after  he  became 
all-powerful,  you  could  altogether  admire. 

During  a  great  portion  of  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and 


190  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1475-1516 

Isabella,  Spain  carried  on  war  against  France  in  Italy. 
Neither  France  nor  Spain  had  any  business  in  Italy.  But 
— as  you  will  learn  when  you  read  the  Child"1  s  History  of 
Italy — that  country  was  plunged  into  the  greatest  disorder 
through  the  quarrels  of  the  small  powers  which  had  di- 
vided it  between  them.  France  went  to  Italy  in  the  hope 
of  conquering  territory.  Spain  followed  to  prevent  France 
from  doing  anything  of  the  kind.  The  war,  which  was 
long,  bloody,  and  cruel,  is  not  worth  describing  to  you; 
but  it  brought  to  public  notice  a  hero  whose  career  was 
famous  and  glorious. 

This  was  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova,  whose  family  name  was 
Aguilar.  He  first  won  fame  at  the  siege  of  Granada,  and 
he  became  the  fast  friend  of  the  queen,  when  he  waded 
waist-deep  in  the  water,  all  equipped  as  he  was  in  bro- 
cade and  crimson  velvet,  to  carry  her  ashore  from  a 
boat.  Soon  afterwards,  a  Spanish  army  having  been  or- 
dered to  Italy,  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova  was  appointed  to 
command  it,  and  proved  himself  so  skilful  a  soldier  that 
he  got  the  name  of  the  Great  Captain,  by  which  he  was 
more  generally  known  than  by  his  own  proper  name. 

The  Italian  war  proved  a  source  of  misery  to  the  poor 
people  of  Italy,  who  were  harried  by  the  troops  first  on 
one  side,  then  on  the  other.  But  among  the  officers  of  the 
armies  the  campaigns  afforded  rare  opportunities  for  dis- 
plays of  knightly  chivalry.  An  encounter  between  the 
Chevalier  Bayard — of  whom  you  read  in  the  Child's  His- 
tory of  Prance — and  a  Spanish  nobleman  named  Alonzo 
de  Sotomayer,  will  give  you  some  idea  of  these  exhibitions 
of  soldierly  high-breeding. 

Sotomayer  had  been  the  prisoner  of  Bayard,  and  said 
that  while  he  was  in  that  condition  the  Frenchman  had 
not  treated  him  with  the  courtesy  which  knightly  usage 
required. 

Bayard  answered  that  the  Spaniard  lied  in  his  throat, 
and  offered  to  make  good  his  words  by  single  combat,  on 
foot  or  on  horseback. 


1475-1516]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  191 

Sotomayer  declared  that  he  would  fight  on  foot. 

Both  knights  wore  complete  suits  of  armor,  with  their 
visors  up;  each  carried  sword  and  dagger.  On  reaching 
the  field,  where  the  two  armies  formed  a  ring  around  the 
fighters,  each  knelt  down  and  offered  a  prayer  to  his  favor- 
ite saint.  When  they  rose  from  their  knees  they  flew  at 
each  other.  Bayard  moved  as  lightly  as  if  he  had  been 
leading  a  fair  lady  down  to  dance,  though  he  had  only  just 
risen  from  a  fever.  The  Spaniard,  who  was  tall  and  stout, 
tried  to  break  the  Frenchman  down  by  heavy  blows;  but 
a  dexterous  sword -thrust  of  Bayard's  went  through  the 
neck-piece  of  the  Spaniard's  armor.  Maddened  by  the 
pain,  Sotomayer  seized  the  Frenchman  in  his  arms,  threw 
him,  and  rolled  on  top  of  him.  It  looked  then  as  though 
the  brave  Frenchman  had  fought  his  last  fight,  for  the 
Spaniard  was  a  man  of  prodigious  strength;  but  Bayard, 
expecting  a  wrestle  of  this  kind,  had  kept  his  poniard  in 
his  left  hand.  He  now  drove  it  with  all  his  might  into  the 
Spaniard's  eye,  and  thence  into  his  brain. 

Instantly  the  music  began  to  sound,  and  the  minstrels  to 
chant  praises  to  the  conqueror,  who  was  held  in  as  high 
esteem  by  the  Spaniards  as  by  the  French. 

Ferdinand  had  a  mean  mind,  and  Gonsalvo's  victories 
made  him  jealous.  The  king  had  tried  his  own  band  at 
fighting  in  Italy,  and  had  been  glad  when  the  Great  Cap- 
tain rescued  him  from  a  trap  into  which  he  had  fallen. 
Thus,  on  a  small  pretext,  a  new  army  which  was  raised  to 
invade  Italy  was  taken  from  Gonsalvo.  The  troops  were 
so  angry  that  they  would  gladly  have  risen  in  revolt  had 
the  Great  Captain  given  the  word;  but  he  bade  them  obey 
without  murmur,  and  retired  in  silence  to  his  castle.  There 
he  spent  his  last  days  in  farming,  and  died  peacefully  at 
the  age  of  sixty-two. 

Yon  will  not  find  many  characters  in  Spanish  history  as 
faultless  as  Gonsalvo.  In  a  cruel  age,  he  was  never  cruel 
to  a  foe;  in  a  greedy  age,  he  never  soiled  his  hands  with 
plunder;  in  a  loose  age,  he  was  a  true  and  faithful  husband 


192  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIX  [14 75-1  sir, 

to  his  wife,  Maria.  He  was  loyal  to  bis  king  when  he  must 
have  despised  him.  He  was  a  skilful  general,  a  valiant  sol- 
dier, and  a  wise  ruler  of  the  Italian  states  he  conquered. 
When  he  died  all  Spain  went  into  mourning,  and  he  was 
buried  with  much  pomp  at  Granada. 

Ferdinand  soon  followed  him.  His  wife  Isabella,  who 
had  been  his  good  genius  through  life,  died  in  1504,  bro- 
ken-hearted at  the  sad  fate  of  her  daughter,  who  went  mad. 
A  year  and  a  half  after  her  death,  Ferdinand  married  a 
beautiful  young  woman  of  eighteen,  Germaine  de  Foix, 
he  being  fifty-four  at  the  time.  They  were  not  happy  to- 
gether. She  was  gay,  volatile,  fond  of  amusement;  he  was 
morose,  and  in  bad  health.  She  gave  birth  to  a  child  which 
only  lived  a  few  hours;  after  that  a  coolness  rose  between 
her  and  her  husband. 

In  the  winter  of  1515  his  heart  began  to  trouble  him,  and 
his  breathing  became  so  difficult  that  he  could  not  live  in 
cities,  but  spent  his  time  hunting  in  the  woods.  On  one 
of  these  hunts  he  was  taken  ill,  and  was  carried  into  a  vil- 
lager's house.  The  courtiers  had  been  expecting  something 
of  the  kind,  and  an  envoy  from  his  grandson  and  heir  has- 
tened to  call. 

"He  has  come  to  see  me  die,"  said  Ferdinand;  "throw 
him  out!" 

It  mattered  little  ;  Ferdinand's  hour  had  come.  The  en- 
voy wrote  to  Charles  that  he  was  King  of  Spain. 

So  Spain  lost  a  monarch  under  whom  it  had  become  the 
greatest  power  in  Europe.  Not  through  any  merit  on  his 
part,  for  Ferdinand  was  rather  a  dull  man,  tricky,  perfid- 
ious, and  narrow;  but  mainly  because  of  the  great  men 
who  appeared  in  Spain  under  his  reign,  and  of  the  genius 
and  uprightness  of  his  wife,  Isabella  the  Catholic. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

CHARLES   THE   FIRST 

A.  D.  1517-1558 

THE  successor  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  was  their 
grandson  Charles,  son  of  their  poor  crazy  daughter  Juana 
and  her  husband,  Philip  of  Burgundy.  He  was  born  on  Feb- 
ruary 24th,  1500.  By  a  strange  concurrence  of  fortunes 
he  was  heir  to  a  number  of  thrones.  From  his  father, 
who  died  when  he  was  a  child,  he  inherited  the  dukedom 
of  Burgundy,  which  included  Flanders,  the  Low  Countries, 
Holland,  Burgundy,  Dauphiny,  and  parts  of  Languedoc, 
Provence,  and  Savoy.  At  the  death  of  one  grandfather, 
he  became  Grand-Duke  of  Austria  ;  at  the  death  of  an- 
other, King  of  Spain.  To  cap  the  climax,  when  the  Em- 
peror of  Germany  died,  he  was  elected  to  succeed  him. 
Thus,  with  the  exception  of  England,  France,  Portugal,  and 
Northern  Italy,  he  ruled  over  all  Western  Europe. 

He  was  seventeen  when  he  came  to  Spain  to  take  posses- 
sion of  his  throne.  He  was  a  dull  boy,  expert  at  manly 
exercises,  but  slow  at  his  books.  He  had  been  brought  up 
by  a  priest  named  Chievres,  who  was  a  cold,  calculating 
ecclesiastic.  Charles  was  cold,  too,  and  sparing  of  his 
words.  He  spoke  little  while  he  was  in  Spain,  as  he  knew 
the  language  imperfectly.  It  was  observed  of  him  that 
his  only  speeches  were  to  ask  for  money — Spain  being  rich, 
and  his  own  Flanders,  where  he  lived,  poor. 

He  remained  three  years  in  his  kingdom.  They  were 
not  altogether  pleasant  years.  The  sturdy  Spaniards  of 
Aragon  and  Valencia  did  not  take  kindly  to  a  king  who, 
though  born  in  Spain,  was  a  foreigner  in  speech  and 
thought  ;  it  gave  him  some  trouble  to  pursuade  them  to 
13 


194  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1517-1558 

acknowledge  him  as  their  monarch,  and,  above  all,  to  give 
him  money  to  spend  in  Flanders.  But  in  the  end  they 
sullenly  submitted,  and  he  sailed  for  the  Low  Countries  in 
May,  1520,  leaving  a  Flemish  priest,  Cardinal  Adrian,  as 


CHARLES  THE  FIFTH  AND   HIS  FRIENDS  IN   MARBLE 

regent  in  his  place,  with  two  viceroys  to  assist  him. 
Castile  protested  violently  against  the  king  going  out  of 
his  kingdom  ;  but  Charles  sailed,  none  the  less,  on  the 
day  appointed. 

He  had  been  chosen,  as  I  told  you,  Emperor  of  Germany, 


1517-1558]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  195 

and  had  serious  work  before  him.  Martin  Luther  was 
thundering  at  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  all  Germany  was 
applauding  him  for  his  war  upon  corrupt  and  vicious 
priests.  The  great  work  of  the  Reformation  had  begun. 
In  Germany  and  Switzerland  the  Papal  Church  was  tot- 
tering ;  a  few  more  sledge-hammer  blows  by  Luther  and 
it  would  fall. 

The  Emperor  Charles — in  Germany  he  was  fifth  em- 
peror of  the  name,  while  he  was  first  of  the  name  among 
the  kings  of  Spain — summoned  Luther  to  Worms  to  ex- 
plain himself.  The  intrepid  monk  obeyed  the  summons, 
though  he  was  warned  that  the  priests  would  make  away 
with  him  if  they  got  him  in  their  power.  They  did  indeed 
propose  to  burn  him  as  a  heretic,  but  Charles,  though  he 
hated  Protestants  to  the  full  as  much  as  they  did,  was 
afraid  of  the  vengeance  of  the  people  if  anything  happened 
to  their  favorite  preacher,  and  let  him  return  home  safely. 

At  the  very  time  when  Luther  was  founding  the  Prot- 
estant Church,  another  Catholic  monk,  equally  vigorous 
and  just  as  sincere,  was  founding  a  Catholic  brotherhood 
which  was  destined  to  be  the  most  powerful  sect  in  the 
Papal  Church.  This  was  Ignatius  Loyola,  who  had  been  a 
soldier  in  his  youth.  Wounded  at  a  siege,  he  spent  his 
time  while  his  wound  was  healing  in  studying  religion, 
and  when  he  got  well  he  established  the  order  of  the 
Jesuits — priests  who  were  to  lead  pure  lives,  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  spread  of  religion,  and  to  have  no  care 
or  thought  for  anything  but  the  good  of  the  Church.  You 
will  perceive  that  Luther  and  Loyola  worked  for  the  same 
object,  though  by  different  means.  You  will  see  by-and- 
by  the  mistakes  which  Loyola  made,  and  the  evil  conse- 
quences which  followed. 

In  the  meantime  all  Spain  was  in  an  uproar.  The  cities 
of  the  north,  with  Toledo  at  their  head,  declared  that  "  the 
Fleming  "  should  have  no  more  of  their  money ;  that  they 
wanted  no  Flemings  to  reign  over  them;  that  the  King 
of  Spain  must  live  in  Spain,  and  respect  the  rights  of  the 


196  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1517-1558 

fueros.  A  mob  arose  in  Segovia,  and  hanged  a  king's 
officer  with  his  head  downward.  Burgos  flew  to  arms. 
The  people  of  Valladolid,  which  was  then  the  capital,  rose 
in  the  same  manner,  and  burned  the  house  of  the  general 
of  the  king's  troops.  Charles's  mother,  poor  crazy  Juana, 
was  found  by  the  mob  at  Tortesillas,  and  was  proclaimed 
queen.  In  a  moment  of  sanity  she  promised  to  rule  the 
kingdom  justly;  but  in  a  few  hours  her  mind  deserted 
her  again,  and  she  would  not  speak  or  recognize  any  one. 

The  end  of  it  was  that  the  king's  troops,  who  had  been 
joined  by  the  principal  nobles,  came  up  with  the  insur- 
gents at  Villalar,  and  being  better  led,  better  armed,  and 
better  disciplined  than  the  levies  of  the  cities,  won  a  com- 
plete victory.  The  rebellion  came  to  a  sudden  end. 
Charles,  returning  from  Germany,  refused  to  punish  the 
rebels,  and  even  granted  some  of  their  demands,  which 
reconciled  them  to  his  authority. 

There  is  a  story  which  I  like  to  believe  of  a  courtier 
who  went  to  the  king  to  tell  him  where  a  certain  leading 
rebel  was  hid. 

"I  am  not  afraid  of  him,"  said  Charles,  "but  he  has 
some  reason  to  be  afraid  of  me  ;  you  would  be  in  better 
business  if  you  told  him  I  am  here,  than  in  telling  me 
where  he  is." 

Charles  restored  peace  to  Spain ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  in  the  pacification  the  chartered  cities  lost  their  liber- 
ties, and  did  not  regain  them  for  many  a  long  year. 

In  the  wars  which  at  that  time  were  incessantly  raging 
in  Italy,  there  was  a  battle  at  Pavia  between  the  French 
under  their  king,  Francis  the  First,  and  the  Germans 
under  skilful  generals  serving  the  Emperor  Charles.  The 
latter  won,  and  Francis  the  First  was  taken  prisoner, 
having  lost,  as  he  said,  all  but  honor.  He  was  shut  up  in 
a  castle  at  Madrid,  and  was  there  so  harshly  treated  by 
Charles's  jailers  that  his  health  gave  way,  and  he  nearly 
died.  Fearful  lest  he  should  die  on  his  hands,  Charles  re- 
leased him  after  a  captivity  of  a  year.  He  was  escorted 


1517-1558.]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  197 

by  horsemen  to  the  river  Andaye,  which  separates  France 
from  Spain.  When  the  river  was  reached,  eight  Spanish 
gentlemen  with  the  king  entered  a  boat  on  the  Spanish 
side,  and  eight  French  gentlemen  came  out  in  a  boat  on 
the  French  side;  the  boats  met  in  the  middle  of  the  river, 
Francis  jumped  into  the  French  boat,  landed,  and  mounted 
a  horse,  shouting,  "  I  am  yet  a  king." 

As  he  had  just  stated  in  writing  that  he  intended  to 
break  the  promises  he  had  made  in  order  to  induce  Charles 
to  release  him,  I  hardly  think  that  his  statement  of  his 
losses  at  Pavia  was  quite  correct.  The  pope,  however, 
said  he  was  quite  right,  and  absolved  him  from  his  bargain. 

Charles  the  First  reigned  thirty  years  after  the  release 
of  his  prisoner  Francis.  But  the  story  of  these  years  is 
one  endless  succession  of  intrigues,  wars,  treaties  made  and 
treaties  broken,  in  which  I  do  not  think  you  could  take 
much  interest,  and  I  will  leave  you  to  find  them  in  larger 
books  than  this.  Charles  reigned  over  so  vast  a  realm  that 
trouble  was  always  breaking  out  somewhere  or  other,  and 
the  emperor-king  had  to  go  journeying  to  set  matters  to 
rights.  He  was  never  still  for  a  month  at  a  time.  He 

o 

lived  on  the  high  -  roads  and  the  seas.  He  married  in 
1526  a  beautiful  girl  of  the  reigning  house  of  Portugal ; 
the  wedding  was  celebrated  with  pomp  and  splendor  in 
the  lovely  town  of  Seville.  But  the  bride  saw  little  of 
her  husband. 

In  these  thirty  years  he  visited  Spain  many  times,  but 
never  succeeded  in  making  the  Spaniards  like  him.  He 
never  saw  Spain  except  when  he  wanted  money,  and  the 
Spaniards  raged  when  they  saw  their  hard-earned  wages 
taken  from  them  to  pay  troops  in  Germany  or  Italy  or 
Flanders.  If  the  nobles  had  stood  by  the  cities  when  the 
latter  rebelled  in  1518  they  might  have  held  their  own 
against  the  king  ;  but  they  had  taken  his  side,  and  he 
requited  them  by  forbidding  them  to  send  deputies  to  the 
Cortes  of  the  fueros.  By  setting  nobles  against  people 
he  was  enabled  to  tax  both  classes  unmercifully. 


198  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [151/M558 

His  endless  labors  broke  him  down  at  last,  and  in  1556, 
when  he  was  fifty-six  years  old,  he  gave  up  his  throne  to 
his  son  Philip,  and  retired  to  a  monastery  at  Yuste,  in 
Estramadura.  It  was  a  lovely  spot,  high  up  in  the  moun- 
tains ;  the  air  was  pure,  and  the  days  and  nights  cool ; 
groves  of  lemon  and  myrtle  and  walnuts  surrounded  the 
monastery  ;  from  seats  under  their  shades  the  ex-king 
could  look  over  a  wide  stretch  of  rich  plain,  dotted  with 
gardens  and  gaudy  flowers. 

Though  he  was  in  retirement,  the  retirement  was  splen- 
did. Handsome  tapestries  hung  on  the  walls,  and  against 
these  fine  paintings  were  suspended.  He  was  served  on 
silver  plate.  He  had  sixteen  different  robes  of  silk  and 
velvet,  many  of  them  trimmed  with  ermine.  Fifty  gentle- 
men, chiefly  Flemings,  waited  upon  him.  His  time  he 
spent  in  wood-carving,  and  in  making  watches  and  clocks 
and  ingenious  toys. 

He  was  a  voracious  eater,  and  he  loved  rich  food.  Be- 
fore he  got  up  he  ate  part  of  a  potted  capon,  with  a  sauce 
of  sugar,  milk,  and  spice.  At  noon  he  had  a  regular  din- 
ner, and  a  supper  at  six,  at  which  a  variety  of  dishes  were 
served.  In  the  evening,  before  going  to  bed,  he  ate  a  plate 
of  anchovies,  or  some  other  savory  food.  His  orders  to 
his  cook  were  to  vary  his  diet ;  the  servant  once  com- 
plained that  he  did  not  know  what  new  dish  to  serve, 
unless  he  prepared  a  fricassee  of  watches.  In  the  morn- 
ing he  drank  iced-beer.  At  his  meals  he  preferred  Rhine 
wine,  of  which  he  consumed  a  quart  at  a  sitting.  You 
will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  he  was  troubled  with 
gout  and  indigestion. 

He  was  a  careful  observer  of  the  forms  of  religion,  and 
was  indeed  a  fanatical  bigot,  who  believed  that  all  man- 
kind should  go  to  the  same  church  under  penalty  of  death. 
As  his  end  approached,  his  intolerance  increased  with 
his  superstition.  He  drew  a  will  bidding  his  successors 
cast  out  heresy.  He  said  he  was  sorry  he  had  spared 
Luther. 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST 


1517-1558]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  201 

The  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  Carranza,  better  known  as 
the  Black  Friar,  came  to  hear  him  confess,  and  to  give 
him  absolution.  At  the  last,  the  archbishop  held  a  silver 
crucifix  before  the  dying  king,  who  cried  "  Now  it  is 
time,"  and  closed  his  eyes  forever  with  a  long-drawn  sigh. 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

HERNANDO   CORTEZ 

A.D.  1518-1519 

IN  the  reign  of  Charles  the  First  two  of  the  most  fa- 
mous Spaniards  who  ever  lived  added  to  the  Spanish  do- 
minion countries  far  larger  and  richer  than  Spain  itself. 
Their  names  will  be  known  when  the  name  of  Charles  the 
First  is  forgotten.  They  were  Cortez  and  Pizarro. 

When  you  read  the  story  of  their  lives  you  will  be  puz- 
zled to  decide  whether  you  should  admire  them  most  for 
their  courage,  their  high  spirit,  and  their  fortitude  in  disas- 
ter, or  hate  them  most  for  their  rapacity  and  their  cruelty 
to  races  which  were  weaker  than  the  Spaniards.  You  will 
find  that  they  invaded  foreign  countries,  seized  them  with- 
out reason  or  pretext,  robbed  their  inhabitants  of  their 
property,  and  murdered  them  if  they  objected.  I  notice 
that  the  French  and  the  English  and  the  Germans  are  do- 
ing something  of  the'same  kind  at  the  present  time  on  the 
continent  of  Africa.  But  I  cannot  think  you  can  approve 
such  things.  Robbery  is  robbery,  and  murder  is  murder, 
whether  the  person  robbed  and  murdered  be  black  or 
brown  or  white  or  copper -colored  ;  and  the  robber  and 
murderer  is  none  the  less  criminal  because  he  is  civilized 
and  white,  while  his  victim  is  savage  and  colored. 

The  excuse  which  Cortez  and  Pizarro  gave  for  robbing 
and  killing  the  people  of  the  countries  they  invaded  was 
that  the  latter  were  heathens,  while  they  ought  to  have 
been  Christians.  I  suppose  it  was  very  wrong  in  them  not 
to  be  Christians,  though,  as  they  had  never  heard  of  Christ, 
i,t  would  have  been  difficult  for  them  to  be  his  followers. 

At  the  present  day  good  Christians  try  to  convince  hea- 


1518-1519]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  203 

thens  that  Christianity  is  a  better  religion  than  the  one 
which  they  profess.  But  if  they  do  not  succeed  in  con- 
vincing the  heathens,  they  let  them  alone,  trusting  that 
time  will  bring  them  to  a  better  frame  of  mind.  In  the 
time  of  Cortez  and  Pizarro  it  was  thought  to  be  the  duty 
of  a  Christian,  if  he  could  not  convince  a  heathen  by  argu- 
ment, to  convert  him  with  sword  and  pike  and  dagger  and 
fire.  The  notion  prevailed  in  Spain  that  the  murder  of  an 
obstinate  heathen  who  refused  to  be  baptized  was  an  act 
that  was  grateful  to  God.  That  is  a  notion  which  you 
cannot  admit.  But  in  judging  Cortez  and  Pizarro,  you 
must  remember  that  it  was  the  notion  of  the  time  in  which 
they  lived,  and  that  they  were  no  worse  than  other  Span- 
iards, or,  for  that  matter,  than  some  of  your  own  ancestors. 
I  am  afraid  that  in  the  reason  which  they  gave  to  their 
consciences  for  their  conduct  in  the  Americas,  the  Span- 
iards got  their  duty  to  God  mixed  up  with  their  covetous- 
ness  of  the  Indian  lands  and  the  Indian  gold.  But  they 
always  said  they  were  acting  solely  for  the  spread  of  true 
religion. 

Hernando  Cortez  was  born  in  Estremadura.  He  had 
been  brought  up  as  a  lawyer,  but  he  was  born  to  be  a  sol- 
dier and  ruler  of  men.  In  the  year  of  Queen  Isabella's 
death  he  sailed  for  Hispaniola,  resolved  to  win  fame  as  a 
discoverer.  He  was  then  nineteen  years  old,  brave,  untir- 
ing, shrewd,  and,  like  all  heroes,  a  lover  of  women  and  be- 
loved by  them.  For  fourteen  years  he  lived  in  Hispaniola 
on  a  farm  which  the  governor  had  given  him,  and  which 
he  cultivated  with  slave  labor,  the  Indians  having  been 
enslaved  by  the  Spaniards;  thus  he  grew  rich.  In  1518 
news  reached  Hispaniola  that  on  the  mainland  of  the  new 
continent  countries  had  been  discovered  which  abounded 
in  gold,  and  whose  people  were  willing  to  trade.  An 
expedition  was  fitted  out  to  visit  them,  and  Cortez  was 
placed  in  command. 

He  was  then  thirty-three  years  old,  tall,  slim,  pale,  with 
dark  eyes  and  powerful  muscles;  he  was  careless  about  his 


204  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1518-1519 

eating  and  drinking,  but  dressed  richly  and  wore  fine  jew- 
els. He  was,  as  you  will  see  presently,  a  man  of  indomita- 
ble will.  When  all  was  ready,  Velasquez,  the  governor  of 
the  Spanish  colonies,  jealous  of  the  fame  he  might  win, 
tried  to  stop  him.  But  Cortez  was  not  the  man  to  be 
stopped.  He  sailed  with  five  hundred  and  fifty-three  sol- 
diers, one  hundred  and  ten  sailors,  two  hundred  Indians, 
and  sixteen  horses — all  in  eleven  vessels,  the  largest  of 
which  was  one  hundred  tons'  burden.  The  fleet  sailed  for 
Yucatan  on  February  18th,  1519. 

Coasting  along  the  shore  of  Yucatan,  he  landed  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Tabasco,  which  is  in  the  present  Mexi- 
can State  of  Tabasco,  fought  the  Indians  there,  and  finally 
came  to  anchor  opposite  the  present  Mexican  city  and  sea- 
port of  Vera  Cruz.  Here  a  difficulty  arose  from  his  not 
understanding  the  Indian  language,  and  their  not  under- 
standing him.  This  difficulty  was  overcome  in  a  curious 
way. 

After  the  battle  at  Tabasco  the  Indians  gave  him  twenty 
young  Indian  girls  to  be  slaves.  One  of  these,  whom  Cor- 
tez named  Marina,  was  beautiful  and  bright.  She  spoke 
several  of  the  Indian  languages,  and  when  Cortez  fell  in 
love  with  her  she  very  quickly  learned  Spanish  too,  as  any 
girl  might  do  under  the  circumstances.  Marina  now  began 
to  serve  as  interpreter  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  na- 
tives. She  had  been  sold  as  a  slave  by  her  mother,  and 
had  no  love  for  her  own  race. 

With  Marina's  help  Cortez  and  his  companions  soon  got 
on  good  terms  with  the  Mexicans  of  the  neighborhood. 
The  latter  brought  fruit,  vegetables,  flowers,  game,  and 
cotton  cloths,  while  the  Spaniards  presented  their  visitors 
with  glass  beads,  objects  in  glass  and  bronze,  velvets,  and 
ornaments.  The  Indian  chief  called,  bearing  cloaks  made 
of  the  feathers  of  gaudy  birds,  and  a  basketful  of  figures 
in  gold  ;  and  Cortez  returned  the  compliment  by  present- 
ing him  with  a  fine  arm-chair,  collars,  bracelets,  a  cap  of 
cloth  of  gold,  and  a  brass  helmet.  Then  Cortez  said  he 


1518-1519]  A  CHILD'S  HISTOKY  OF  SPAIN  205 

desired  to  visit  tbe  king  of  the  country,  whose  name  was 
Moclitheuzoraa,  or,  as  we  call  it,  Montezuma ;  and  a  swift 
messenger  started  to  run  the  two  hundred  miles  between 
Vera  Cruz  and  the  City  of  Mexico  with  a  message  to  that 
effect  from  Cortez. 

In  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  the  messenger  re- 
turned with  word  that  Montezuma  would  not  see  Cortez. 
A  second  messenger  brought  the  same  answer.  Cortez  was 
discouraged. 

In  his  distress,  a  Mexican  chief  visited  him,  and  com- 
plained that  his  people  were  shamefully  used  by  Monte- 
zuma, and  that  they  would  rebel  if  they  could  get  help 
from  any  source.  Cortez  saw  his  opportunity,  and  laid 
his  plans.  But  before  he  could  carry  them  out  a  mutiny 
among  his  own  men  nearly  upset  them.  A  party  of  sol- 
diers and  sailors  resolved  to  sail  away  to  Spain,  and  act- 
ually put  food  and  water  on  a  ship  for  the  purpose.  Cor- 
tez found  out  the  plot  and  executed  the  ringleaders ;  then, 
fearing  that  it  might  be  repeated,  he  sank  all  his  ships  but 
one,  and  that  one  he  sent  down  the  coast. 

The  men  were  furious  when  they  found  their  retreat  cut  off. 

"  The  general,"  said  they,  "  has  led  us  like  cattle  to  be 
murdered  in  the  shambles." 

Said  Cortez,  "  There  is  one  ship  left.  Let  those  who 
are  not  content  to  stand  by  me  go  on  board  of  her  and 
sail  for  Cuba.  That  will  be  a  good  place  for  them  to 
stand  on  the  shore  and  see  us  land  by-and-by  laden  with 
the  gold  and  spoils  of  Mexico." 

Nobody  wanted  to  go  after  that. 

But  Cortez  knew  that  no  time  must  be  lost.  On  August 
16th,  1519,  he  started  from  the  coast  westward  with  four 
hundred  foot,  fifteen  horses,  seven  big  guns,  thirteen  hun- 
dred Indian  warriors,  and  a  thousand  Indian  porters  to 
draw  the  guns.  The  rest  of  his  force  he  left  in  the  fort 
at  Vera  Cruz.  The  soldiers  marched  in  wild  spirits. 

"  We  are  ready  to  obey  you,"  they  cried.  "  Our  fort- 
unes, for  better  for  worse,  are  cast  with  you," 


206  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN          [1518-1519 

On  September  2d  the  little  array  reached  the  chief  town 
of  Tlascala,  and  the  people  forbade  the  Spaniards  to  pass. 
They  proved  a  foe  not  to  be  despised.  The  Tlascalans 
fought  like  lions,  and  they  were  far  more  numerous  than 
the  Spaniards.  But  they  did  not  like  the  cavalry;  they 
had  never  seen  horses  before,  and  when  the  cannon  opened 
fire,  and  mowed  down  whole  ranks  of  warriors,  the  Ind- 
ian army  broke  and  scattered.  Their  loss  was  prodig- 
ious, while  the  Spaniards  suffered  little  from  the  bows  and 
arrows  and  spears  and  darts  with  which  the  Tlascalans 
fought. 

Still,  the  Indians  tried  the  fortune  of  war  again  and 
again,  always  with  the  same  result.  They  sent  a  body  of 
spies  to  spy  out  the  Spanish  camp,  in  order  to  find  its 
weak  points.  Mai'ina  detected  them,  and  denounced  them 
to  Cortez,  who,  instead  of  putting  them  to  death,  had  their 
hands  cut  off,  and  sent  them  home  in  that  plight.  At  last 
the  Tlascalans  admitted  that  the  Spaniards  were  stronger 
than  they,  and  sued  for  peace  and  friendship,  which  Cortez 
was  only  too  glad  to  grant,  on  condition  that  a  Tlascalan 
army  should  accompany  him  to  Mexico.  To  this  the  Tlas- 
calans agreed,  and  they  proved  as  loyal  in  their  friendship 
as  they  were  warlike  in  their  enmity. 

All  this  time,  at  regular  intervals,  Montezuma  kept  send- 
ing messengers  to  Cortez — whom  he  called  Malinche — 
with  smooth  words  and  presents.  But  it  was  not  till  he 
heard  of  the  final  defeat  of  the  Tlascalans  that  he  consent- 
ed to  receive  the  Spaniards  in  his  own  capital  City  of 
Mexico.  Then  he  promised  to  welcome  them,  and  advised 
them  to  come  by  the  way  of  Cholula. 

The  Spaniards  were  rejoiced  to  spend  a  few  days  in  rest 
at  the  city  of  Tlascala.  It  was  a  large,  well-built  city, 
with  so  many  people  in  it  that  thirty  thousand  men  and 
women  gathered  in  the  market-place  on  market-day. 
Everybody  was  kind  to  the  strangers,  and  the  chiefs  gave 
six  of  their  daughters — the  most  beautiful  girls  in  the  city 
— to  be  wives  of  as  many  Spanish  officers.  Cortez,  how- 


1518-1519]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  207 

ever,  could  not  afford  to  dally  there.  As  soon  as  his  men 
were  rested  he  marched  to  Cholula. 

This  was  the  chief  city  of  a  fine  country,  every  acre  of 
which  was  under  cultivation,  partly  with  the  aid  of  irrigat- 
ing ditches.  There  were  vast  fields  of  corn,  and  planta- 
tions of  cactus,  aloe,  and  pepper  trees.  Fine  woods  grew 
near  the  city,  and  streams  flowed  under  the  branches. 
The  woods  were  long  ago  cut  down  by  the  Spaniards,  and 
the  streams  dried  up.  Cholula  reminded  Cortez  of  Granada 
and  Seville.  He  could  not  afford  to  stay  there,  however; 
but  just  as  he  had  resolved  to  march,  he  was  stopped  by  a 
startling  piece  of  news  from  Marina. 

That  bright  woman  had  found  out  that  the  Cholulans  in- 
tended to  fall  upon  the  Spaniards  as  they  left  the  city,  hav- 
ing barricaded  the  streets  to  impede  their  march,  and  that 
a  body  of  Aztecs  had  been  sent  from  Mexico  to  make  an 
end  of  those  who  escaped.  The  peril  was  immediate  and 
frightful.  The  Cholulans  were  more  than  ten  to  one  of  the 
Spaniards. 

Cortez  made  up  his  mind  instantly.  He  would  not  wait 
to  be  attacked.  He  sent  an  officer  to  the  Cholulan  chiefs, 
telling  them  that  he  would  march  on  the  following  day, 
and  would  be  happy  to  say  good-bye  to  them  and  their 
chief  officers  at  his  quarters.  When  they  came  they 
were  shown  into  a  large  court-yard  surrounded  by  a  high 
wall,  with  houses  here  and  there.  Inside  the  yard  he  had 
ranged  his  men  with  their  backs  against  the  wall.  When 
the  Cholulans  were  all  assembled,  Cortez  accused  them  of 
the  plot  they  had  contrived;  then  the  gates  of  the  yard 
were  closed,  and,  at  a  signal,  every  Spaniard  opened  fire  on 
the  natives,  who  were  huddled  together  in  a  mass,  and 
could  not  defend  themselves.  They  were  killed  to  the 
number  of  several  thousand;  and  the  Tlascalans,  at  the 
sound  of  the  firing,  came  in  at  the  double  quick  from  their 
camp,  and  fell  upon  the  Cholulans  who  were  collecting 
outside. 

$o  more  attempts  were  made  to  check  the  march  of  the 


208  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1518-1519 

Spaniards.  They  passed  between  the  two  great  volcanoes, 
Popocatepetl  and  Istaccihuatl,  both  higher  than  any  mount- 
ains they  had  ever  seen  ;  climbed  the  range  which  shut  in 
the  level  plain  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  descended  to  the 
lakes,  and  on  November  8th,  1519,  Cortez  met  Montezuma 
at  the  entrance  of  his  city. 

He  appeared  in  a  litter  shining  with  burnished  gold, 
borne  on  the  shoulders  of  nobles,  and  shaded  by  a  canopy 
of  feather-work,  sprinkled  with  jewels,  and  fringed  with 
silver,  which  was  carried  by  barefooted  servants.  He  was 
forty  years  of  age,  pale,  tall,  and  thin,  with  black  hair  and  a 
scanty  beard.  His  aspect  was  dignified.  He  wore  a  cloak 
of  cotton,  sprinkled  with  pearls  and  other  precious  stones; 
on  his  head,  green  plumes  waved  as  he  moved;  his  feet 
were  in  sandals  soled  with  gold.  He  descended  from  his 
litter  to  welcome  Cortez  in  a  few  graceful  words  of  cour- 
tesy; then,  saying  that  his  brothers  would  show  the  Span- 
iards the  quarters  he  had  prepared  for  them,  he  returned 
to  his  palace. 

The  Spaniards  were  open-mouthed  at  what  they  saw. 
Not  even  in  their  own  Spain  had  they  beheld  such  splen- 
dor as  was  now  before  them  As  they  gazed  on  the  vast 
causeway  across  the  lake  and  the  palaces  of  the  city,  they 
could  not  help  thinking  that  a  monarch  who  could  erect 
such  works  would  be  likely  to  be  able  to  defend  himself 
against  an  attack  by  seven  thousand  men,  only  four  hun- 
dred of  whom  were  Spaniards. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

IX  THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO 

A.D.   1519-1520 

You  will  have  noticed  that  from  the  first  landing  of 
Columbus  in  1492  to  the  arrival  of  Cortez  at  the  City  of 
Mexico  in  1519,  the  Spaniards  found  no  race  in  the  New 
World  that  was  not  savage.  The  natives  of  the  islands 
and  of  the  shores  which  they  invaded  could  not  read  or 
write;  they  knew  little  of  any  art  or  science;  many  of 
them  wore  no  clothes;  they  had  no  settled  government  or 
laws;  they  built  no  cities;  they  were  in  nothing  above  the 
level  of  the  Indian  tribes  which  still  linger  along  the  fron- 
tier settlements  of  the  United  States. 

The  Mexicans  or  Aztecs  were  a  very  different  people. 
They  came  from  some  place  in  the  country  which  is  now 
the  United  States — what  place  I  do  not  know — pouring 
down  from  the  North  upon  the  rich  table-land  of  the 
South,  just  about  the  time  the  Moors  were  establishing 
their  empire  in  Granada.  In  Mexico  they  found  a  race 
called  Toltecs  in  possession  of  the  country,  having  wrested 
it  from  its.  former  owners  some  three  hundred  years  be- 
fore. Whether  the  Toltecs  were  exterminated  by  the 
Aztecs,  whether  they  perished  from  disease,  or  whether 
they  moved  farther  south  into  Central  America,  no  one 
knows.  Nothing  is  certain  except  that  they  disappeared, 
leaving  the  Aztecs  in  .possession  of  the  region  which  is 
now  Central  Mexico.  On  an  island  in  a  lake  in  the  valley 
of  Mexico  the  Aztecs  founded  a  city  which  they  called 
Tenochtitlan,  but  which  we  call  Mexico. 

Being  a  fighting  people,  they  spread  their  sway  over  the 
whole  country  round  the  city,  and  gradually  stretched 
14 


210  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  [1519-1520 

their  borders  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  oceans,  and 
from  the  Tropic  of  Cancer  to  Central  America.  Being  an 
ingenious  and  intelligent  people,  they  built  their  chief  city 
of  red  stone,  erected  stone  causeways  across  the  lake,  and 
constructed  temples  not  quite  as  lofty  but  almost  as  vast 
as  the  pyramids  of  Egypt. 

In  these  temples,  which  were  called  Teocallis,  prisoners 
of  war  were  sacrificed  to  the  Mexican  gods,  and  their 
flesh  eaten  by  the  chiefs  and.  priests.  The  victim  was  led 
to  the  top  of  the  Teocalli,  where  he  could  be  seen  from 
afar,  was  laid  on  a  convex  slab  of  stone,  and  held  there 
by  five  priests,  while  a  sixth  cut  open  his  breast  with  a 
sharp  knife  of  itxli,  and  tore  out  his  quivering  heart. 
There  were  hundreds  of  such  Teocallis  in  the  cities  of 
Mexico,  and  thousands  of  such  victims  sacrificed  in  them 
every  year. 

Apart  from  this  savage  custom,  the  Aztecs  were  a  civil- 
ized people;  they  were  careful  farmers,  and  knew  how 
to  irrigate  their  fields;  they  were  skilled  miners;  expert 
artisans,  who  could  weave  fine  cotton  cloths  and  feather- 
work;  shrewd  merchants,  who  travelled  far  and  wide  to 
procure  goods  for  exchange;  ingenious  jewellers,  who 
could  make  beautiful  ornaments  of  gold  and  silver;  dyers, 
who  could  reproduce  almost  every  color;  sculptors,  who 
made  statues  of  their  gods;  they  treated  their  women 
well,  and  were  kind  to  their  children;  they  worshipped 
their  king;  they  had  a  system  of  picture-writing  in 
which  they  could  express  their  thoughts;  they  under- 
stood arithmetic  and  astronomy,  and  could  do  long  sums 
in  addition  by  means  of  cords  which  had  knots  in  them. 
Their  system  of  laws  was  complete.  They  were  brave, 
and  knew  much  of  the  science  of  warfare. 

This  was  the  people  whom  Cortez  had  resolved  in  his 
secret  heart  to  despoil  of  their  country  with  his  four 
hundred  Spaniards. 

When,  on  the  day  after  his  arrival,  he  visited  Monte- 
zutna  in  his  palace,  which  was  splendid  with  fountains  and 


1519-1520] 


A    CHILD  S    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN 


211 


tapestries  and  flowers  and  sweet-smelling  herbs,  the  Span- 
iard was  startled  by  so  much  magnificence;  but  in  reply 
to  a  question  as  to  what  he  wanted,  he  mustered  up  nerve 
to  say  that  his  business  was  to  convert  the  Mexicans  to 
Christianity.  Montezuma  had^no  reply  to  make  to  this, 


PYRAMID   OF   CHOLULA 

but  he  supplied  every  man  in  Cortez's  army  with  a  new  uni- 
form, and  on  Cortez  himself  and  his  officers  he  bestowed  rich 
gold  ornaments,  bidding  them  rest  in  their  quarters  after 
their  fatigues,  and  assuring  them  that  they  should  want  for 
nothing. 

Cortez  well  knew  that  he  could  not  stay  there  forever.  He 
knew  that  he  was  an  unwelcome  visitor.     If  he  tried  to 


212  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1519-1520 

return  to  the  coast,  the  Aztecs  would  fall  upon  him  by  the 
way,  and  make  an  end  of  his  little  army.  He  resolved  upon 
a  bold  stroke.  With  a  party  of  trusty  men  he  went  to  the 
palace,  and  partly  cajoled  and  partly  bullied  Montezuma 
into  moving  into  the  quarters  of  the  Spaniards,  where,  of 
course,  he  became  a  prisoner.  You  will  wonder  why  Mon- 
tezuma was  so  foolish  as  to  place  himself  in  his  enemies 
hands.  I  cannot  explain  his  conduct  except  on  the  theory 
that  he  had  lost  his  head. 

He  had  not  been  long  in  custody  when  Cortez  appeared 
before  him  one  day,  and,  brusquely  accusing  him  of  hav- 
ing plotted  against  the  Spaniards,  ordered  a  soldier  to 
put  irons  on  his  legs,  and  stood  by  while  the  fetters  were 
riveted.  The  poor  king  moaned  and  quivered,  but  said  not 
a  word,  though  at  the  time  one  of  his  trusted  officers, 
who  had  really  conspired  against  the  Spaniards,  was  act- 
ually burned  alive  before  the  window  of  the  room  in  which 
he  sat.  His  spirit  was  broken.  He  felt  that  he  was  no 
longer  a  king. 

Cortez  read  his  mind,  and  removed  the  fetters.  He  even 
let  Montezuma  go  to  worship  at  one  of  the  temples,  and  go 
hunting  in  one  of  his  game  preserves — always  under  the 
strict  eye  of  a  powerful  Spanish  escort.  But  the  king 
had  no  courage  left.  He  did  not  try  to  escape,  and  when 
his  nephew  and  other  Mexican  chiefs  formed  plans  to 
rescue  him,  he  showed  Cortez  how  to  seize  the  ringlead- 
ers, and  did  not  object  when  Cortez  put  them  in  irons. 
He  became  a  mere  puppet  in  the  Spaniards'  hands. 

Then  Cortez  demanded  that  Montezuma  and  his  princi- 
pal chiefs  should  acknowledge  that  they  held  the  country 
for  the  King  of  Spain,  that  Charles  was  the  true  sover- 
eign, and  that  they  were  his  vassals.  To  this  also  the  poor 
broken-spirited  king  agreed,  and  compelled  his  chiefs  to 
sign  with  him  a  paper  admitting  that  Mexico  was  a  prov- 
ince of  Spain.  With  this  paper,  Cortez  suggested  that 
it  would  be  only  proper  to  send  the  King  of  Spain  a  pres- 
ent. Montezuma  agreed  again,  collected  a  large  sum  in 


1519-1520] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN 


213 


gold,  jewels,  and  fine  stuffs,  added  to  it  all  his  own  and  his 
father's  treasure,  and  placed  the  whole  at  the  service  of 
Cortez.  The  gold  alone  amounted  to  over  six  million  dol- 
lars of  our  money. 

When  the  Spaniards  saw  this  vast  treasure  gathered  in 


TREE   OF   MONTEZUMA 

one  spot,  they  could  not  contain  their  greed.  They  insist- 
ed on  dividing  the  booty,  and  very  little  of  it  ever  reached 
the  King  of  Spain. 

Then  Cortez  demanded  that  the  Mexicans  should  change 
their  religion  and  become  Christians.  Here  Montezuma 
made  a  stand.  He  said  that  his  people  would  not  endure 


214  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN          [151 9-1520 

anything  of  the  kind,  and  lie  warned  Cortez  not  to  try  their 
patience  too  far.  The  utmost  he  could  concede  was  that 
the  Spanish  priests  might  celebrate  mass  on  the  top  of  a 
Teocalli  by  the  side  of  the  Mexican  altars.  This  was  done; 
but  it  irritated  the  Mexicans  beyond  bearing. 

Shortly  afterwards,  during  the  absence  of  Cortez,  who 
had  gone  to  the  coast  to  meet  a  detachment  of  Spaniards 
just  landed  from  Spain,  the  people  held  one  of  their  re- 
ligious festivals.  Alvarado,  who  commanded  in  Cortez's 
absence,  had  consented  that  they  should  do  so  provided 
they  bore  no  arms.  They  came  accordingly  in  their  finest 
dresses,  with  all  their  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  but  with- 
out their  swords  or  shields;  and  they  were  no  sooner  en- 
gaged in  singing  their  religious  hymns  and  dancing  their 
religious  dances  than  the  Spaniards  fell  upon  them,  butch- 
ered them  all,  and  tore  the  ornaments  from  the  dead  and 
the  dying. 

Next  morning  every  man  in  Mexico  flew  to  arms,  and 
attacked  the  Spanish  barrack.  They  would  have  stormed 
it,  and  it  would  have  gone  hard  with  the  garrison,  for  the 
long  pent-up  fury  of  the  Mexicans  was  all  ablaze,  when 
Montezuma  mounted  the  battlements,  and  ordered  the  at- 
tack to  cease.  You  can  form  an  idea  of  the  docility  of  the 
Aztecs  when  you  learn  that  the  king's  order  was  obeyed. 
The  mob  fell  back,  and  resolved  to  besiege  the  Spaniards 
in  their  barrack.  When  Cortez  returned  from  Vera  Cruz 
with  his  reinforcements,  he  found  himself  caught  in  a  trap. 

The  people  of  Mexico  would  sell  the  Spaniards  no  food. 
They  would  not  let  a  man  of  them  go  out  of  the  barrack 
in  search  of  water,  of  which  the  barrack  supply  was  ex- 
hausted. They  shut  them  up  with  a  wall  which  no  one 
could  pass.  Cortez  lost  his  temper  for  the  first  time. 
When  Montezuma  called  to  welcome  him  on  his  return,  he 
growled: 

"  What  have  I  to  do  with  this  dog  of  a  king  who  lets  us 
starve  before  his  eyes  ?" 

On  studying  the  ground,  he  still  felt  sure  that  he  could 


1519-1520]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  215 

hold  his  own  ;  but  one  morning  a  messenger  he  had  sent 
out  came  back  breathless  and  bleeding,  crying: 

"The  whole  city  is  in  arms  !  The  drawbridges  have  been 
raised,  and  our  retreat  is  cut  off!" 

Soon  a  roar  like  an  approaching  thunder-storm  filled  the 
air.  It  grew  louder  and  louder,  and  Cortez,  from  the  top 
of  the  battlements,  could  see  long  black  waves  of  warriors 
rolling  up  the  streets  towards  the  barrack,  while  the  tops 
of  the  houses  near  by  were  covered  with  archers  and  javelin- 
men,  who  shook  their  fists  and  their  weapons  at  the  im- 
prisoned Spaniards. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

CORTEZ  DRIVEN  OUT  OF  MEXICO 

A.D.   1520 

UP  the  great  street  of  the  city,  towards  the  barrack 
where  the  Spaniards  were  quartered,  the  Aztecs  poured  in 
a  furious  wave,  swinging  their  banners  and  shrieking  their 
yells.  When  they  got  within  range,  Cortez  opened  fire 
on  them.  But  they  were  only  staggered  for  a  moment. 
They  came  on  and  on  and  on,  and  the  shower  of  arrows 
and  darts  and  stones  never  ceased  till  the  going  down 
of  the  sun.  Lucky  it  was  for  the  Spaniards  that  the 
enemy  could  not  get  into  the  barrack. 

Next  day  Cortez  made  a  sally,  and  whenever  he  met  the 
Aztecs  they  went  down  before  the  charge  of  his  heavy 
cavalry  and  his  men  in  armor.  But  no  matter  how  many 
he  killed,  their  numbers  seemed  undiminished,  and  the  rain 
of  arrows  was  as  constant  as  ever.  Then  Cortez  asked 
Montezuma  to  call  off  his  people. 

The  poor  cowed  king  said  he  would  take  no  part  in  the 
strife.  He  moaned: 

"  What  have  I  to  do  with  Malinche  ?  I  do  not  wish  to 
see  him.  I  only  wish  to  die.  My  people  will  not  stop  at 
my  request.  It  is  of  no  use  trying.  You  will  never  leave 
these  walls  alive." 

But,  hearing  that  the  Spaniards  would  go  away  if  they 
could,  he  put  on  his  white-and-blue  mantle  and  his  diadem 
and  his  golden  sandals,  ascended  a  turret,  and  waved  his 
hand  to  the  mob.  They  were  instantly  hushed.  He  bade 
the  people  lay  down  their  arms,  and  let  the  Spaniards  go. 
He  said  that  Malinche  was  his  friend. 

At  this  roars  and  shrieks  arose  from  the  crowd,  and  a 
noble  shouted: 


1520] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAINT 


217 


"Base  Aztec,  you  are  a  woman — a  woman,  only  fit  to 
weave  and  to  spin." 

And  a  cloud  of  stones  and  arrows  fell  upon  the  turret; 
one  of  them  struck  the  king  on  the  forehead  and  knocked 
him  senseless. 


AZTEC   CALENDAR  STONE 

He  was  carried  inside,  and  surgeons  busied  themselves 
with  his  wound.  But  he  tore  off  the  bandages  and  re- 
fused to  be  treated,  or  to  eat  or  drink.  Shaken  as  his  con- 
stitution was,  he  began  to  sink  very  fast.  A  priest  got  at 
him,  dinned  religious  argument  into  his  aching  head,  and 
kept  shaking  the  crucifix  before  his  eyes,  but  he  answered 
feebly: 


218  A  CHILD'S  HISTOEY  OF  SPAIN  [1520 

"  I  will  not  at  this  hour  desert  the  faith  of  my  fathers." 

To  Cortez,  who  came  to  see  him,  he  said: 

"  Care  for  my  poor  children.  'Tis  the  least  you  can  do  in 
return  for  what  I  have  done  for  the  Spaniards." 

And  so  he  died. 

The  street  fight  went  on  all  the  same.  Cortez  took  the 
great  Teocalli,  and  rolled  the  Aztec  god  down  head-first 
into  the  street.  But  he  could  not  hold  the  building.  He 
asked  the  Aztec  chiefs  to  meet  him.  They  gathered  op- 
posite the  turret  on  which  Montezuma  had  stood,  and 
Cortez,  speaking  by  the  musical  voice  of  Marina,  who  stood 
by  his  side,  threatened  them. 

"  I  will  forgive  everything,"  he  said,  "  if  you  lay  down 
your  arms.  But  if  you  do  not,  I  will  make  your  city  a 
heap  of  ruins,  and  will  not  leave  a  soul  alive  in  it." 

They  scoffed  at  him,  and  cried: 

"  You  are  perishing  from  hunger  and  sickness ;  you 
have  no  food  and  no  water  ;  you  must  soon  fall  into  our 
hands.  The  bridges  are  broken  down,  and  you  cannot  es- 
cape. There  will  be  too  few  of  you  to  glut  the  vengeance 
of  the  gods." 

Then  Cortez  knew  that  he  must  escape  if  he  could. 
The  City  of  Mexico  was  on  an  island  in  a  lake;  it  was 
connected  with  the  mainland  by  causeways,  which  were 
cut  at  intervals  by  canals  over  which  were  bridges. 
These  were  the  bridges  which  the  Aztecs  had  broken 
down.  Cortez  resolved  to  escape  by  the  principal  cause- 
way, which  was  cut  by  three  canals  ;  to  cross  these  he 
built  a  portable  bridge. 

In  the  early  hours  of  the  night  of  July  1st,  1520,  after 
mass  had  been  said,  the  Spaniards  and  their  Tlascalan 
allies  crept  silently  out  of  the  barrack  and  slunk  to  the 
causeway.  The  night  was  rainy,  and  so  dark  that  the 
men  could  hardly  see  each  other ;  not  a  footstep  of  a 
sentry  was  heard;  the  streets  were  still  as  graves;  sleep 
reigned  over  all.  But  when  the  advance  of  the  Spanish 
army  began  to  lay  the  timbers  of  the  portable  bridge, 


1520]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  219 

the  noise  awoke  a  guard,  who  shouted;  in  an  instant  the 
priests  on  the  Teocallis  took  the  alarm,  sounded  their 
shells,  the  big  war-drum  began  to  beat,  and  thousands  of 
Aztecs  poured  headlong  down  the  streets  to  the  causeway. 

Cortez  crossed  the  first  canal  with  little  loss,  but  when 
the  second  was  reached,  and  the  bridge  was  called  for,  it 
was  found  that  the  weight  of  the  men  and  horses  who 
had  passed  over  it  had  jammed  and  wedged  its  ends  so 
tightly  against  the  stone  and  earth  that  it  could  not  be 
lifted.  The  Spaniards  were  caught.  A  few  of  the  horse- 
men swam  the  second  canal,  and  some  of  the  infantry 
followed;  but  many  of  them  had  loaded  themselves  with 
Montezuma's  gold,  and  its  weight  carried  them  to  the  bot- 
tom. After  a  time  there  were  so  many  dead  men  and 
horses,  and  guns,  and  wagons  of  ammunition  in  the  gap 
in  the  causeway  that  they  formed  a  bridge,  over  which 
the  Spaniards  managed  to  scramble.  The  same  thing 
occurred  at  the  third  and  last  canal.  Each  side  of  the 
causeway  was  lined  with  Aztecs  in  boats,  who  poured 
darts  and  arrows  upon  the  Spaniards,  leaped  ashore  and 
pierced  them  with  spears  or  clubbed  them,  or  when  they 
fell  helpless  carried  them  off  as  prisoners  for  sacrifice.  It 
was  not  till  the  gray  of  the  morning  that  Cortez  was 
able  to  draw  off  the  remnant  of  his  army  into  the  country. 

This  night  is  called  by  the  Mexicans  "  Noche  triste  " — 
the  sad  night.  Sad  night  indeed  it  was.  About  two- 
thirds  of  the  Spaniards  and  four-fifths  of  the  Tlascalans 
fell  in  the  fight,  and  those  who  had  been  killed  outright 
were  the  least  to  be  pitied.  A  wretched  ending  this  for 
an  expedition  which  had  begun  so  well. 

For  six  days  the  Spaniards  retreated  steadily,  without 
seeing  or  hearing  anything  of  the  victorious  Aztecs.  But 
when  the  sun  rose  on  July  8th  they  beheld  the  plain  of 
Otumba  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  swarming  with  wav- 
ing banners,  forests  of  spears,  and  masses  of  fighting  men 
tossing  to  and  fro  like  the  waves  of  the  ocean.  Then 
Cortez  had  need  of  all  his  courage  and  all  his  spirit.  His 


220  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIJJ  [1520 

little  army  was  weakened  by  wounds  and  privations.  They 
had  found  little  to  eat  but  corn-stalks,  wild-cherries,  and 
the  bodies  of  dead  horses.  They  seemed  only  a  mouthful 
for  such  a  host  as  the  Mexicans. 

But  Cortez  drew  up  his  men  in  line  of  battle  with  a  firm 
face,  and  when  the  Aztecs  approached,  he  met  them  with 
an  intrepid  charge.  He  must  have  been  beaten  and  his 
force  destroyed,  but  just  as  the  tide  of  battle  went  decid- 
edly against  him,  he  saw  the  commander  of  the  Aztec 
army  surrounded  by  a  gorgeous  staff.  Calling  a  few  of 
his  officers  to  his  side,  he  charged  furiously  through  the 
enemy's  ranks  till  he  reached  the  general,  ran  him  through 
with  his  lance,  and,  seizing  the  Aztec  battle-flag,  waved  it 
over  his  head.  The  sight  caused  a  panic  among  the  Aztecs. 
They  turned  face  and  ran  away  headlong,  while  Spaniards 
and  Tlascalans,  forgetting  their  wounds  and  their  hunger, 
pursued  them  until  their  legs  gave  way. 

This  unexpected  victory  saved  the  Spaniards  from  de- 
struction; but  the  power  and  courage  shown  by  the  Aztecs 
taught  Cortez  that  he  must  proceed  with  more  caution 
hereafter.  He  first  gave  his  troops  a  rest,  during  which 
they  recovered  their  health  and  spirits.  Then  he  sent  to  the 
coast  and  to  Hispaniola  for  reinforcements,  and  succeeded 
in  getting  a  few  score  men  and  horses,  and  a  supply  of  am- 
munition. With  this  increase  to  his  strength,  he  captured 
numbers  of  towns  round  Mexico,  and  compelled  them  to 
furnish  him  with  recruits  and  provisions.  In  course  of 
time  he  mustered  an  army  which  is  said  to  have  been  a 
hundred  thousand  strong,  though  only  a  few  hundred  of 
these  were  Spaniards. 

Cortez  had  satisfied  himself  that  to  retake  Mexico  he 
must  get  command  of  the  lake  which  surrounded  it.  How 
he  accomplished  this  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  proofs 
of  his  enterprise.  When  he  sunk  his  ships  at  Yera  Cruz, 
he  had  been  careful  to  take  out  of  them  their  cordage  and 
iron-work,  and  to  store  these  safely  on  shore.  He  now 
sent  a  party  of  Indian  porters  for  them.  Then  choosing  a 


1520]  A    CHILD  S    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN  221 

spot  where  tall  trees  were  abundant,  he  bade  a  ship-carpen- 
ter, who  was  in  his  service,  build  him  thirteen  small  ves- 
sels, and  rig  them  as  brigantines.  When  the  vessels  were 
built  they  were  taken  apart,  carried  in  pieces  over  the 
mountains,  a  distance  of  sixty  miles,  and  launched  on  the 
lake  of  Mexico.  Arming  them  with  small  cannon,  of 
which  he  had  a  few,  and  filling  them  with  fighting  men, 
he  felt  that  he  could  now  command  the  lake,  and  sweep 
the  Aztec  canoes  from  its  surface. 

This  done,  he  set  his  army  in  motion  in  three  divisions, 
and  planted  one  at  the  end  of  each  of  the  three  chief 
causeways  which  led  into  the  city. 

So  the  siege  of  Mexico  began  in  the  last  week  of  May, 
1521. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO 

A.D.   1521-1647 

IT  was  now  that  the  usefulness  of  the  brigantines  was 
shown.  A  few  days  after  Cortez  had  begun  his  blockade 
the  bosom  of  the  lake  was  covered  with  Aztec  canoes  full 
of  warriors.  The  tiny  craft  dashed  hither  and  thither, 
hurling  showers  of  arrows  at  the  Spaniards,  landing  Indians 
at  unprotected  spots,  and  scurrying  away  when  they  were 
attacked.  Cortez  sailed  his  fleet  right  into  their  midst, 
ramming  them  as  he  went,  and  sinking  and  disabling  so 
many  canoes  that  the  face  of  the  lake  was  soon  covered 
with  drowning  Aztecs.  After  this  they  rarely  ventured  to 
put  to  sea  in  their  boats. 

Then  Cortez  made  a  dash  into  the  city,  advanced  as  far 
as  the  old  barrack  which  he  had  left  on  the  sad  night,  and 
gazed  at  the  great  Teocalli  on  which  the  Spaniards  had 
raised  their  altar,  and  from  the  top  of  which  they  had 
pitched  the  Aztec  god.  A  new  god  had  been  set  up  in 
his  place — a  horrid,  grinning  god,  daubed  with  blood;  the 
Spaniards  pulled  him  from  his  stand,  and  rolled  him  down 
the  side  of  the  Teocalli,  with  his  priests  on  top  of  him. 
But  Cortez  did  not  find  it  easy  to  get  out  of  the  city.  The 
Aztecs  tried  to  cut  off  his  retreat,  and  they  were  numerous 
and  fought  with  the  courage  of  despair.  They  failed,  how- 
ever, and  Cortez  renewed  the  attack  next  day,  and  the  day 
after,  and  the  day  after  that.  Once  again  he  pushed  to 
the  old  barrack  and  set  it  on  fire.  He  burned  also  Monte- 
zuma's  palace,  and  with  it  the  royal  aviary,  a  splendid 
building  in  which,  it  was  said,  there  were  specimens  of 
all  the  birds  in  America.  The  beautiful  songsters,  and 


1521-1547]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIX  223 

the  gorgeous  parrots,  and  the  great  fierce  eagles  were  all 
burned. 

When  Montezuma  died  he  was  succeeded  by  his  brother. 
When  he  died  of  smallpox  the  nobles  chose  a  nephew  of 
Montezuma's,  Guatemozin,  to  reign  over  them.  He  was 
twenty-five  years  old,  handsome,  brave,  and  a  fighter:  the 
Spaniards  he  hated  with  a  deadly  hate.  He  swore  on  his 
Teocalli  before  his  Aztec  gods  that  he  would  wipe  the 
white  men  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 

He  did,  in  fact,  defend  his  city  bravely  and  intelligently. 
Hardly  a  day  passed  without  a  bloody  fight.  But  the 
Aztec  could  not  make  Cortez  let  go  his  hold.  He  was  a 
Spanish  bulldog.  His  lines  gradually  contracted  round 
Mexico,  and  throttled  it  in  their  grasp.  Cortez  pulled 
down  the  houses  as  he  advanced,  and  with  their  materials 
filled  up  the  gaps  in  the  causeways  so  that  they  could  not  be 
reopened.  Meantime  -no  food  could  enter  the  city.  The 
inhabitants  began  to  suffer  terribly  from  famine.  They 
ate  the  bark  and  leaves  from  trees,  and  drank  brackish 
water.  Such  diet  weakened  them  so  that  they  had  not 
strength  to  bury  their  dead. 

Still  they  would  not  yield.  In  pity  for  their  sufferings 
Guatemozin  would  have  listened  to  Cortez's  proposal  for  a 
capitulation,  but  the  priests,  who  knew  that  Spanish  con- 
quest would  finish  their  vocation,  insisted  on  holding  out, 
and  the  people  obeyed  them.  Men  who  were  crippled  by 
wounds  or  helpless  from  disease,  women  who  were  starving, 
and  saw  their  children  starving  before  their  eyes,  still  met 
the  Spaniards  with  the  cry  of  "No  surrender!" 

Then  another  twist  was  given  to  the  chain  which  was 
grinding  the  great  Aztec  city ;  more  buildings  were  burned 
and  pulled  down,  and  more  soldiers  of  Guatemozin,  who 
were  almost  too  weak  to  hold  their  weapons,  were  done  to 
death.  The  Spaniards  did  not  have  the  heart  to  kill  the 
poor  defenceless  creatures,  but  the  TIascalans,  and  the  other 
native  troops  who  were  serving  under  Cortez,  had  no 
compunctions ;  they  slew  every  creature  that  had  life, 


224  A    CHILDS    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN  [1521-1547 

even  to  the  women  and  children.  Day  after  day  Cortez 
sent  messengers  to  Guatemozin  entreating  an  interview  to 
arrange  terms  of  peace;  but  though  Cortez  held  seven- 
eighths  of  the  city,  and  Guatemozin  and  his  men  were 
penned  up  in  the  other  eighth  with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, and  the  dead  and  the  dying,  without  food,  and  in  an 
air  poisoned  by  disease,  the  Aztec  emperor  said  he  would 
not  meet  the  Spaniard.  He  said  he  was  ready  to  die  where 
he  was. 

"  Go,  then,"  said  Cortez  to  his  messenger,  "  and  prepare 
for  death.  The  hour  has  come." 

Then  the  attack  began  on  August  21st,  1521,  and  the 
Indian  allies  renewed  their  massacres.  Guatemozin,  leap- 
ing into  a  canoe  with  his  beautiful  young  wife,  the 
daughter  of  Montezuma,  endeavored  to  escape  across  the 
lake;  but  he  was  intercepted  by  a  brigantine,  made  pris- 
oner, and  carried  before  Cortez.  When  he  was  taken 
all  resistance  ceased.  To  Cortez  the  captive  king  said 
proudly — 

"I  have  done  all  that  I  could  to  defend  myself  and  my 
people.  Now  deal  with  me,  Malinche,  as  you  will." 

"Fear  not,"  replied  Cortez,  "you  shall  be  treated  with 
all  honor." 

And  he  sent  for  Guatemozin's  wife,  whom  he  intrusted 
to  the  care  of  Marina — the  gallant  girl  who  had  stood  by 
her  friend's  side  in  all  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  the 
campaign,  and  who  was  richly  entitled  to  a  share  of  his 
triumph. 

I  wish  I  could  say  that  Cortez  kept  his  word.  But  I 
cannot.  First,  the  Spanish  soldiers,  disappointed  at  the 
small  amount  of  treasure  they  found  in  Mexico,  accused 
Guatemozin  of  having  hid  it ;  at  their  request  Cortez  put 
the  captive  king  to  the  torture  to  make  him  disclose  where 
it  was  hidden.  He  confessed  nothing,  having  probably 
nothing  to  confess.  Then,  on  a  charge  that  Guatemozin 
had  concocted  a  plot  against  the  Spaniards,  Cortez  had 
him  arrested  and  hanged  to  a  tree  by  the  road-side. 


1521-1547]  A  CHILD'S  HISTOIIY  OF  SPAIX  225 

His  beautiful  young  wife  survived  him,  became  a  Chris- 
tian, and  married  in  succession  three  Castiliari  nobles. 

Cortez  gave  her  a  splendid  estate.  You  may  be  glad, 
perhaps,  to  hear  that  Marina,  who  had  been  so  loyal  and 
useful  to  Cortez,  also  became  a  Christian  and  married  a 
Castilian  knight,  with  whom  she  lived  happily  on  an  estate 
which  Cortez  bestowed  on  her.  On  her  last  journey  in 
Cortez's  company  she  passed  through  the  place  of  her  birth, 
and  there  met  her  mother,  who  had  sold  her  when  she  was 
a  child.  The  old  woman  was  terrified,  and  fell  on  her 
knees,  supposing  that  her  daughter  came  to  avenge  her- 
self. But  Marina  raised  her,  kissed  her,  made  her  many 
presents,  and  said  she  bore  no  grudge  for  an  act  which  had 
been  the  means  of  enabling  her  to  become  a  Christian. 

After  the  conquest,  Cortez  rebuilt  the  City  of  Mexico, 
and  restored  it  as  it  had  been,  all  -except  the  Teocallis. 
Then,  an  attempt  having  been  made  to  overthrow  him  by 
the  same  Archdeacon  Fonseca  who  had  persecuted  Colum- 
bus— he  was  now  Bishop  of  Burgos — he  returned  to  Spain. 
There  the  Emperor  Charles  received  him  in  state,  thanked 
him  for  the  work  he  had  done,  made  him  a  marquis,  gave 
him  an  estate  in  Mexico  on  which  there  were  twenty-four 
towns  and  villages,  with  twenty -three  thousand  natives 
whom  he  was  free  to  enslave,  and  appointed  him  Captain- 
General  of  New  Spain. 

Thus  rewarded  and  honored,  he  returned  in  1530  to 
Mexico,  and  explored  the  Pacific  Coast  as  far  north  as 
California.  But  his  exploring  expeditions  cost  much  and 
brought  him  in  nothing;  at  the  end  of  ten  years,  in  1540, 
he  found  himself  in  debt.  He  returned  to  Spain,  and 
begged  King  Charles  to  relieve  him  from  his  embarrass- 
ments. Charles  was  not  in  the  habit  of  paying  other  men's 
debts.  He  received  Cortez  coldly,  and  would  not  answer 
his  letters,  which  so  preyed  on  the  conqueror's  mind  that 
he  fell  ill  at  Seville  and  died. 

In  the  will  which  he  made  before  his  death,  there  is  one 
provision  which  will  strike  you  as  curious  in  one  who  was 
15 


226  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1521-1547 

as  unscrupulous  as  Cortez  had  often  shown  himself  to  be. 
He  owned  a  number  of  Indian  slaves.  As  to  them  he  says: 

"  It  has  long  been  a  question  whether  one  can  conscien- 
tiously hold  property  in  Indian  slaves.  I  enjoin  upon  my 
son  Martin  to  spare  no  pains  to  come  to  an  exact  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth  on  this  question,  as  a  matter  which  con- 
cerns his  conscience  and  mine." 

After  his  death  his  body  had  almost  as  many  adventures 
as  it  had  met  with  in  life.  It  was  at  first  laid  in  the 
Medina-Sidonia  vault,  in  the  monastery  of  San  Isidro,  at 
Seville.  Fifteen  years  afterwards  his  son  removed  it  to 
the  monastery  of  San  Francisco,  in  Tezcuco,  Mexico. 
From  thence,  after  sixty  years,  it  was  moved,  and  was  re- 
buried  with  great  pomp  in  the  Church  of  St.  Francis,  in 
the  City  of  Mexico.  More  than  a  century  afterwards,  it 
resumed  its  travels,  and  was  reinterred,  in  a  glass  coffin 
bound  with  silver,  in  a  church  which  Cortez  had  himself 
founded  in  Mexico.  Finally,  in  1823,  a  mob  threatening 
the  church,  some  descendants  of  Cortez  secretly  opened 
the  coffin  and  took  out  the  bones.  Whether  they  were 
ever  replaced  I  do  not  know. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII 

PIZARRO 
A.D.   1528-1532 

IJST  the  month  of  May,  1528,  shortly  after  his  return  from 
Mexico,  Cortez  met  in  the  little  town  of  Palos,  whence 
Columbus  had  sailed,  a  relation,  whose  name  was  Fran- 
cisco Pizarro.  He  was  a  man  of  about  fifty-seven  years  of 
age,  tall,  weather-beaten,  but  straight,  and  rather  good- 
looking.  He  had  been  one  of  the  first  Spanish  adventurers 
who  had  gone  to  seek  wealth  in  Hispaniola,  and  had  spent 
some  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  in  the  New  World  with- 
out gaining  fame  or  fortune.  This  veteran  now  told  Cortez 
that  there  was  in  South  America  a  country  richer  than 
Mexico,  which  could  be  conquered  by  a  bold  dash  such  as 
he  had  made  on  the  kingdom  of  the  Aztecs ;  that  he,  Pi- 
zarro, was  resolved  to  make  that  dash  ;  and  that  help,  in  the 
shape  of  money  or  advice,  would  be  welcome.  What  Cortez 
replied,  history  does  not  tell  us.  Perhaps  he  had  cares 
enough  of  his  own  not  to  concern  himself  about  the 
schemes  of  others.  Perhaps  he  did  not  believe  Pizarro. 

Yet  the  latter  told  the  truth.  On  two  separate  occasions 
he  had  explored  the  west  coast  of  South  America  from  the 
Isthmus  to  the  place  where  Truxillo  now  stands,  and  had 
landed,  and  had  seen  quantities  of  gold  and  silver,  a  rich 
country,  and  a  cultured  people.  These  voyages  of  discov- 
ery had  been  undertaken  by  him  in  partnership  with  a 
priest  named  Luque  and  an  old  soldier  named  Almagro. 
Luque  furnished  the  money,  Pizarro  and  Almagro  under- 
took to  do  the  discovering,  the  fighting,  and  the  plunder- 
ing, and  all  three  were  to  divide  the  profit.  A  queer  part- 
nership for  a  priest  to  be  a  member  of.  Two  voyages  had 


228  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIX  [1528-1532 

been  made  ;  everything  turned  out  as  they  hoped  ;  but  no 
conquest  had  been  accomplished,  and  Father  Luque  had 
come  to  the  bottom  of  his  purse.  Under  these  circum- 
stances there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  ask  help  from 
the  King  of  Spain. 

King  Charles  never  gave  money  to  any  one.  He  kept 
it  all  for  himself.  But  he  granted  Pizarro  permission  to 
conquer  any  countries  he  chose  for  the  crown  of  Spain,  and 
agreed  that  when  he  had  conquered  them,  he  should  gov- 
ern them  with  full  authority.  He  conferred  high  rank  upon 
Pizarro,  and  agreed  to  pay  him  a  large  salary — out  of  the 
revenues  of  the  conquered  countries.  Pizarro  had  prom- 
ised to  obtain  from  the  king  the  same  honors  and  powers 
for  his  partner  Almagro  as  he  got  for  himself  ;  this  part 
of  his  business  he  forgot.  But  he  told  such  glowing  stories 
of  Peru,  and  boasted  so  loudly  of  his  new  rank  as  captain- 
general  and  governor  that  people  advanced  him  money  for 
his  new  expedition,  and  it  is  believed  that  Cortez  helped 
him.  At  any  rate,  he  managed  to  fit  out  three  small  vessels 
with  a  crew  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  men,  and  with  these 
he  departed.  Four  of  his  brothers,  who,  like  himself,  were 
hungry  adventurei's,  joined  his  force. 

In  January,  1531,  he  set  sail  southward  from  Panama 
with  one  hundred  and  eighty  men  and  twenty-seven  horses. 
The  men  heard  mass  and  took  the  sacrament  before  em- 
barking ;  the  priests  blessed  the  expedition  with  especial 
fervor  as  a  crusade  against  the  infidel. 

The  first  place  they  came  to  was  a  town  in  the  province  of 
Coaque,  which  was  not  far  from  the  present  city  of  Quito. 
The  people,  who  were  generous  and  hospitable,  received 
the  Spaniards  without  suspicion;  whereupon,  as  one  of 
Pizarro's  captains  said,  "we  fell  on  them  sword  in  hand.'* 
The  Spaniards  stole  all  their  gold  and  silver  and  jewels 
and  fine  stuffs;  in  fact,  requited  their  kindness  by  making 
a  clean  sweep  of  all  the  natives  had.  The  spoil  they  sent 
to  Panama  to  show  how  bravely  the  expedition  was  com- 
ing on. 


1528-1532]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  229 

Panama  was  at  the  time  full  of  vagabond  adventurers 
and  dare-devils,  who  had  drifted  thither  from  Hispaniola 
and  Mexico.  Their  greed  was  roused  by  sight  of  the  gold 
which  Pizarro  sent,  and  many  of  them  fitted  out  small  ves- 
sels to  join  him.  In  this  way  the  Spanish  force  in  South 
America  was  strengthened  by  recruits,  among  whom  was 
the  famous  De  Soto,  who  afterwards  discovered  the  Missis- 
sippi; and  Pizarro  was  able  to  move  south  to  the  Piura 
River,  where  he  founded  the  town  of  San  Miguel,  which  is 
inhabited  to  this  day. 

From  that  town,  on  September  24th,  1532,  Pizarro 
marched  at  the  head  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
men,  sixty-seven  of  whom  were  mounted.  He  knew  that 
the  King  of  Peru,  who  was  called  the  Inca,  and  whose 
name  was  Atahualpa,  was  at  a  place  known  asCaxamalka, 
on  the  other  side  of  a  spur  of  the  Andes,  with  a  large  force 
of  troops.  The  Spaniards  crossed  the  mountains  to  meet 
him. 

I  must  tell  you  here  that  the  Peruvians,  like  the  Aztecs, 
were  a  civilized  people,  though,  unlike  the  Aztecs,  they 
had  no  Teocallis,  and  very  rarely  offered  up  prisoners  as 
sacrifices.  They  worshipped  several  gods,  but  the  chief 
god  was  the  sun,  who  had  temples  in  which  priests  and 
virgins,  who  were  not  allowed  to  marry,  held  religious  serv- 
ices. The  inca  was  all-powerful,  but  there  was  a  system 
of  laws  which  even  he  had  to  obey.  Under  him  were  a 
number  of  nobles  who  served  him  in  the  Avars,  who  paid 
no  taxes,  and  many  of  whom  lived  in  the  inca's  palaces 
and  ate  at  the  inca's  table. 

The  land  of  Peru  was  so  divided  that  every  head  of  a 
family  (and  every  man  was  obliged  to  marry)  held  a  por- 
tion of  it,  which  he  farmed.  One-third  of  the  crop  went 
to  the  inca  ;  one-third  to  the  sick,  to  the  soldiers,  and  to 
others  whose  calling  kept  them  in  cities  ;  the  remaining 
third  belonged  to  the  holder  of  the  land,  and  if  it  was  not 
sufficient,  he  could  get  corn  from  the  public  storehouses 
without  paying  for  it.  Thus,  there  were  no  poor  in  Peru, 


230  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  [1528-1532 

and  hardly  any  rich,  except  relations  of  the  inca.  The  peo- 
ple were  warlike,  and  had  subdued  the  nations  round  them. 

Their  farming  was  thorough.  Their  lands  were  irri- 
gated, and  manured  with  guano.  They  grew  corn,  pota- 
toes, bananas,  tobacco,  and  a  number  of  vegetables.  On 
the  hills  flocks  of  vicuna  sheep  bore  a  wool  which  was 
even  finer  than  the  merino  wool  of  Spain.  The  country 
was  full  of  gold  mines  ;  the  walls  of  the  sun  god's  temple 
were  hidden  by  plates  of  gold.  Strange  to  say,  (he  Peru- 
vians had  no  iron,  and  the  steel  weapons  of  the  Spaniards 
filled  them  with  surprise. 

The  chief  city  of  Peru  was  Cuzco,  in  a  valley  of  the  An- 
des. It  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  immense  thickness; 
at  one  point  a  huge  fortress  built  of  great  stones  towered 
above  the  palaces  of  the  incas  and  the  nobility.  It  was 
said  that  it  took  twenty  thousand  men  twenty  years  to 
erect  this  fortress.  Several  thousand  Peruvians  lived  in 
Cuzco  in  houses  built  of  mud  and  reeds. 

Like  the  king  of  the  Aztecs,  the  inca  lived  in  lofty  state. 
He  wore  a  dress  made  of  the  finest  wool  of  the  vicuna, 
dyed  in  the  brightest  colors,  and  girdled  with  a  belt  shin- 
ing with  gold  and  precious  stones.  In  his  turban  stood 
two  feathers  of  a  rare  bird  ;  no  one  but  he  was  allowed  to 
wear  those  feathers.  Every  year  he  travelled  through  his 
empire  in  a  litter  blazing  with  gold  and  emeralds,  and  car- 
ried on  men's  shoulders.  At  night,  the  litter  reached  an 
inn,  which  had  been  built  for  the  purpose,  and  where  the 
inca  was  regaled.  Before  he  started  out  in  the  morning 
the  people  swept  the  road  over  which  he  was  to  travel,  and 
strewed  it  with  flowers.  When  he  died,  his  vitals  were 
taken  out  of  his  body  and  deposited  in  a  temple  with  his 
plate  and  jewels  ;  a  thousand  of  his  women  were  put  to 
death  on  his  tomb.  The  body  itself  was  embalmed,  clothed 
in  the  dress  the  inca  wore  in  life,  and  set  upright  in  a  gold 
chair  by  the  side  of -a  long  row  of  his  ancestors. 

This  was  the  people  whom  Pizarro  had  resolved  to  con- 
quer and  despoil. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU 

A.D.    1532-1538 

N  the  Spaniards  marched  down  the  winding  path 
which  led  from  the  dark  forest  of  the  mountain  to  the 
plain  below,  they  saw  on  the  slope  opposite  them  a  green 
meadow  flecked  with  white  dots  as  thick  as  snow-flakes. 
These  were  the  tents  of  the  Peruvian  army,  and  Pizarro 
knew  that  he  was  face  to  face  with  the  foe.  He  marched 
bravely  on,  nevertheless,  and  entered  the  town  of  Caxa- 
malca,  which  was  empty  of  people.  This  was  on  Novem- 
ber 15th,  1532. 

Hernando  Pizarro,  at  the  head  of  a  few  horsemen,  rode 
to  the  inca's  camp,  and  said  that  his  brother  had  come  to 
teach  the  Peruvians  the  true  faith. 

For  some  time  Atahualpa  answered  not  a  word.  But  at 
length  he  observed  : 

"  Tell  your  captain  I  will  see  him  to-morrow." 

At  daylight  on  that  morrow,  Pizarro  filled  the  buildings 
on  each  side  of  the  great  square  of  Caxamalca  with  his 
cavalry  and  his  infantiy,  to  whom  he  gave  secret  orders. 
Mass  was  said,  and  the  troops  led  by  the  priests  sang  the 
hymn,  "Rise,  O  Lord,  and  judge  thine  own  cause."  Ata- 
hualpa did  not  leave  his  camp  till  the  afternoon,  and  then 
advanced  with  a  strong  body  of  well-armed  troops,  intend- 
ing to  encamp  outside  of  the  city  for  the  night  ;  but  Pi- 
zarro pressing  him,  and  saying  that  everything  had  been 
prepared  for  his  entertainment,  he  changed  his  mind,  and 
entered  the  town  with  unarmed  attendants  only. 

In  the  great  square  he  found  no  one  but  a  priest,  who  be- 
gan explaining  to  him  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  relig- 


232  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1532-1538 

ion,  and  advised  him  to  be  baptized,  and  to  acknowledge 
that  he  held  his  kingdom  as  a  vassal  of  Charles,  King  of 
Spain.  With  that  he  handed  him  a  Catholic  breviary. 
The  inca's  eyes  flashed  as  he  replied  : 

"I  will  be  no  man's  vassal.  I  am  greater  than  any 
prince  on  earth.  As  for  the  pope  of  whom  yon  speak,  he 
must  be  crazy  to  talk  of  giving  away  countries  which  do 
not  belong  to  him.  I  will  not  change  my  faith.  My  God 
lives  in  the  heavens,  and  looks  down  upon  his  children." 
And  he  threw  the  breviary  to  the  ground. 

At  this  Pizarro  waved  a  white  scarf,  the  signal  gun 
boomed,  the  cavalry  charged  out  of  their  hiding-place;  the 
infantry  dashed  forward,  the  cannon  opened  fire,  and  in  a 
few  moments  the  unarmed  Peruvians  were  overwhelmed 
by  the  furious  onset  of  the  Spaniards.  Atahualpa  would 
have  fallen  had  not  Pizarro  rescued  him.  He  was  secured 
and  carried  off  a  prisoner  under  guard  ;  but  in  the  half-hour 
which  the  fight  lasted  many  thousand,  some  say  ten  thou- 
sand, of  his  followers  were  slain,  and  the  rest,  seized  by  a 
panic,  fled  in  every  direction. 

Pizarro  had  followed  the  example  of  Cortez.  He  had 
made  himself  master  of  the  person  of  the  king  he  intended 
to  overthrow.  What  to  do  with  him  was  now  the  question. 

After  an  imprisonment  of  a  day  or  two,  Atahualpa  learned 
that  what  the  Spaniards  wanted  was  gold.  He  told  Pi- 
zarro that  if  he  would  set  him  free  he  would  cover  the 
floor  of  the  room  in  which  they  stood  with  gold,  and  would 
pile  up  the  gold  as  high  as  a  man  could  reach.  The  room 
was  twenty  feet  long  by  seventeen  feet  wide,  and  by  stand- 
ing on  tiptoe,  Atahualpa  could  reach  up  nine  feet.  Pizarro 
agreed.  Messengers  were  despatched  to  every  town  in 
Peru  requiring  them  to  send  their  gold  and  silver  to  Caxa- 
malca,  and  in  a  few  days  it  began  to  arrive  in  considerable 
amounts.  At  the  end  of  a  few  weeks,  though  the  room 
was  not  filled  nine  feet  high,  enough  gold  was  collected  in 
it  to  be  worth  fifteen  and  a  half  million  dollars  in  our 
money. 


1532-1538]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  233 

The  soldiers  began  to  clamor  for  a  division.  They  feasted 
their  greedy  eyes  on  more  gold  than  any  one  of  them  had 
ever  seen  before  in  all  his  life.  They  said  that  such  a  vast 
treasure  would  tempt  the  Peruvians  to  attack  them  for  its 
recovery,  and  they  were  only  a  few  hundred  against  count- 
less thousands.  Pizarro  agreed,  and  the  treasure  was 
divided.  By  a  solemn  paper — which  he  signed  with  a 
cross,  for  he  could  neither  read  nor  write — he  admitted 
that  Atahualpa  had  paid  his  ransom,  and  was  entitled  to 
his  freedom.  But  he  said  that  for  reasons  of  state  he 
would  keep  him  prisoner  a  little  longer. 

Then  arose  stories  of  risings  among  the  Peruvians  to  rescue 
their  inca,  and  to  punish  his  captors.  These  rumors  fright- 
ened the  Spaniards,  who  wanted  to  get  out  of  the  country 
with  their  booty,  and  disquieted  Pizarro.  He  gave  ear  to 
persons  who  told  him  that  the  captive  inca  was  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  plots.  And  he  brooded  over  the  idea  until  one 
day  he  seized  the  inca,  and  put  him  in  irons. 

A  regular  trial  was  held.  Atahualpa  was  accused  of 
having  murdered  his  brother — which  he  had  not  done  ;  of 
having  wasted  the  substance  of  the  kingdom — which  meant 
that  he  had  let  the  Spaniards  seize  the  gold  ;  that  he  wor- 
shipped idols,  and  had  several  wives — which  were  customs 
of  his  country.  A  few  witnesses  were  heard;  and  without 
delay  or  debate  the  inca  was  sentenced  to  be  burned  to 
death  that  night  in  the  square  of  Caxamalca. 

Two  hours  after  sunset,  on  August  29th,  1533,  the  troops 
assembled  by  torchlight.  Atahualpa  was  led  out  chained 
hand  and  foot,  was  bound  to  the  stake,  and  fagots  were 
heaped  up  round  him.  A  friar  named  Valverde,  who  had 
signed  a  paper  approving  the  sentence  condemning  him  to 
death,  tried  to  convert  him  at  the  last,  and  when  every 
other  argument  had  failed,  offered  to  commute  his  sen- 
tence to  death  by  the  garote,  if  he  would  be  baptized. 
Atahualpa  consented  ;  the  iron  ring  was  fastened  round 
his  throat,  and  he  was  strangled  —  his  last  words  to  Pi- 
zarro being,  "  What  have  I  done  to  meet  such  a  fate 


234  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1532-1538 

from  you  who  have  had  nothing  but  kindness  at  my 
hands  ?" 

The  gallant  De  Soto  was  absent  when  the  execution  took 
place.  When  he  returned  he  did  not  mince  his  words. 
To  Pizarro  he  said  : 

"You  have  done  basely.  The  inca  was  slandered.  He 
was  not  plotting  against  us.  For  the  crime  you  have  com- 
mitted God  will  call  you  to  answer." 

At  the  death  of  the  inca  the  kingdom  of  Peru  went  to 
pieces,  and  Pizarro  marched  to  the  capital,  Cuzco,  without 
resistance,  and  it  and  all  the  other  cities  of  Peru  yielded  to 
the  Spaniards.  The  conquest  of  Peru  was  complete,  and 
the  future  capital,  Lima,  was  founded. 

But  the  conquerors  who  had  been  so  cruel  and  rapacious 
in  their  treatment  of  the  Peruvians,  now  quarrelled  among 
themselves.  Pizarro's  old  partner,  Almagro,  who  had  never 
quite  forgotten  Pizarro's  neglect  of  his  claims  in  his  bar- 
gain with  King  Charles,  was  in  Peru  at  the  head  of  a 
force  of  his  own,  and  when  Pizarro  settled  down  at  Lima 
he  made  his  headquarters  at  Cuzco,  and  claimed  to  rule 
from  thence.  Two  of  the  Pizarro  brothers  falling  into  his 
hands,  he  thrust  them  into  prison. 

Francisco  Pizarro  got  them  out  by  making  a  new  treaty 
of  friendship  with  Almagro — they  were  always  making 
treaties  with  each  other  and  breaking  them — and  then,  when 
he  had  organized  an  army,  he  marched  it  against  Almagro, 
under  Hernando  Pizarro.  There  was  a  battle  fought  under 
the  walls  of  Cuzco  on  April  26th,  1538,  and  Almagro  was 
beaten.  His.  conqueror  locked  him  up,  and  one  morning 
dark-faced  men  crept  stealthily  into  his  cell,  fastened  the 
iron  collar  round  his  neck,  and  garoted  him.  He  had  been 
tried  and  sentenced,  and  did  not  know  it.  So  passed  away 
the  second  of  the  three  partners — the  priest,  Luque,  having 
died  in  his  bed  some  time  before. 

Hernando  Pizarro,  who  put  Amalgro  to  death,  returned 
to  Spain,  laden  with  gold ;  was  seized  by  order  of  Bishop 
Fonseca,  and  was  locked  up  for  twenty  years  in  a  dungeon. 


1532-153S]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  235 

He  was  forgotten,  in  fact.  When  he  got  out  he  was  a 
bent,  lame,  white-haired  old  man  without  money  or  friends. 
Yet  I  read  that  he  lived  to  the  age  of  a  hundred. 

His  brother,  the  conqueror,  who  was  now  known  as  the 
Marquis,  was  sitting  in  the  dining-room  of  his  house  at 
Lima  with  friends  round  him,  when  a  party  of  Almagro's 
old  followers  entered  the  house  with  drawn  swords.  He 
had  not  time  to  fasten  his  cuirass,  but,  wrapping  his  cloak 
round  his  left  arm,  laid  about  him  with  his  right,  like  a 
warrior  at  bay  : 

"What!  ho  !  traitors!  have  you  come  to  murder  me  in 
my  own  house  ?" 

And  he  ran  the  nearest  of  his  foes  through  the  body. 
But,  in  the  next  moment,  a  sword  thrust  pierced  his  neck,  he 
staggered,  and  a  dozen  weapons  were  plunged  into  him  as  he 
fell.  So  that  was  an  end  of  the  last  of  the  three  partners. 

Another  brother,  Gonzalo,  was  beheaded.  For  many 
years  Peru  was  a  scene  of  endless  conflict  between  the 
conquerors;  and  it  must  be  said  that  they  were  as  cruel  to 
each  other  as  they  had  been  to  the  Peruvians.  Of  this 
sickening  strife  you  would  not  care  to  hear  anything  in  this 
Child's  History  of  Spain.  But  I  must  say  a  word  before  we 
leave  the  subject  of  an  old  soldier  whose  name  was  Carbajal. 

He  was  one  of  the  greatest  fighters  of  the  day,  a  skilled 
soldier,  and  one  who  boasted  that  he  never  spared  a  fallen 
foe.  At  the  end  of  a  long  career  of  warfare  he  was  taken 
prisoner  and  sentenced  to  die.  He  was  then  eighty-four 
years  old.  He  was  carried  to  the  place  of  execution  in  a 
basket  drawn  by  two  mules,  and,  as  the  old  soldier  was 
stout,  it  was  necessary  to  use  force  to  squeeze  his  body  into 
the  basket.  "  The  old  baby,"  said  he,  "  does  not  fit  in  the 
cradle."  On  his  way  to  his  death  he  sang  and  whistled. 
The  words  of  his  song  were  from  an  old  Spanish  ballad : 

The  wind  blows  the  hairs  off  my  head, 

Mother, 
Two  by  two  it  blows  them  away, 

Mother  ! 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

PHILIP   THE    SECOND 

A.D.  1556-1568 

THE  successor  of  Charles  the  First  was  his  son  Philip, 
who  was  born  at  Valladolid  on  May  21st,  1527,  and  was 
consequently  twenty-nine  years  old  when  he  came  to  the 
throne.  His  mother  had  died  when  he  was  twelve,  and  he 
had  been  brought  up  by  tutors  under  his  father's  instruc- 
tions. In  his  youth  he  was  pale  and  slim,  with  blue  eyes 
and  rather  a  pleasing  expression;  in  middle  and  old  age 
his  features  grew  pinched,  and  his  cast  of  face  morose. 
At  all  stages  of  life  his  temper  was  sour,  he  was  cold- 
blooded, deceitful,  tricky,  and  suspicious.  He  was  a  man 
who  lived  without  pleasures.  He  spent  his  life  in  reading 
despatches,  with  his  thin  nose  bent  over  the  paper,  and  his 
quill  pen  scribbling  comments  on  the  margin. 

When  he  was  sixteen  he  was  married  to  Mary,  infanta 
of  Portugal,  a  young  lady  who  was  fifteen,  and  quite 
pretty.  She  travelled  from  Portugal  to  Spain  to  be  mar- 
ried, and  as  he  had  never  seen  her,  he  disguised  himself 
with  a  slouch  hat  and  a  gauze  mask,  and  mixed  with  the 
crowd  which  assembled  to  greet  her,  so  as  to  take  a  good 
look  at  her  face.  She  rode  a  mule  ;  her  saddle  was  silver; 
her  dress  was  of  silver  cloth  embroidered  with  flowers  of 
gold,  and  over  the  dress  was  a  Castilian  mantle  of  violet- 
colored  velvet.  Her  hat  was  velvet  with  plumes  of  white 
and  blue. 

The  young  couple  lived  happily  together  for  two  years. 
A  boy  baby  was  then  born  to  them,  and  the  mother  died: 
what  became  of  the  baby  I  will  presently  tell  you. 

Some  years  afterwards  Philip  betrothed  himself  to  Mary, 


1556-1568]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  237 

Queen  of  England,  who  had  at  one  time  been  courted  by 
his  father.  She  is  the  queen  who  has  been  called  Bloody 
Queen  Maiy,  because  of  the  numbers  of  Protestants  who 
lost  their  lives  in  her  reign  by  reason  of  their  religion. 
She  was  indeed  a  bitter  and  bigoted  Catholic,  and,  like  most 


PHILIP   THE   SECOND 

people  in  that  day,  she  believed  that  it  was  right  and 
proper  to  put  people  to  death  because  they  did  not  be- 
lieve what  she  did. 

The  wedding  took  place  at  Winchester,  and  shortly  after 
it  the  queen  and  her  husband  made  their  public  entry  into 
London.  Generally  speaking,  the  English  did  not  like  the 


238  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [1556-1568 

marriage.  They  were  prejudiced  against  the  Spaniards, 
and  those  of  them  who  were  Protestants,  and  these,  I  think, 
were  the  majority,  would  much  rather  the  queen  had  mar- 
ried a  Protestant  prince.  They  were  afraid  that  in  some 
way  the  marriage  would  make  England  subject  to  Spain, 
which  was  at  that  time  the  most  powerful  state  in  Europe. 

But  Philip  had  brought  with  him  quantities  of  silver  from 
his  possessions  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  and  the  sight  of  the 
carts  laden  with  the  bright  metal  rolling  through  the 
streets  of  London  cooled  the  enmity  of  the  mob.  He  did 
his  best  to  soothe  the  jealous  temper  of  the  great  English 
lords  with  his  wheedling  tongue,  and  had  almost  won 
their  hearts,  when  he  was  called  to  Flanders  to  hear  from 
his  father's  lips  the  news  of  his  intended  abdication.  He 
left  his  wife  in  September,  1555,  and  did  not  see  her  again 
till  March,  1557. 

In  the  meantime  he  had  come  into  his  kingdom,  and  had 
waged  two  successful  wars  —  one  against  the  pope,  the 
other  against  the  French,  and  had  shown  his  people  in 
Spain  that  he  knew  how  to  make  himself  obeyed.  The 
war  in  Flanders  and  Picardy  was  fierce  and  bloody  ;  on 
one  side  fought  the  French  ;  on  the  other  side  the  Span- 
iards, with  Englishmen,  Flemings,  and  Germans  to  help 
them.  There  was  a  battle  at  St.  Quentin,  which  the  Span- 
iards won;  and  there  was  a  battle  at  Gravelines,  which  the 
Spaniards  also  won,  mainly  through  the  valor  and  skill  of  a 
Fleming,  Count  Egmont;  but  the  French  took  Calais, 
which  was  English,  and  just  as  a  final  decisive  battle  was 
going  to  take  place  the  King  of  France  and  the  King  of 
Spain  discovered  that  they  had  no  money  to  carry  on  the 
war,  and  made  peace. 

Meanwhile,  Queen  Mary,  who  had  been  in  bad  health  for 
years,  died  on  November  17th,  1558,  and  Philip  was  a  wid- 
ower again.  It  appears  that  he  believed  it  was  not  good 
for  man*  to  be  alone,  for  he  had  scarcely  put  on  mourning 
for  his  wife  when  he  proposed  to  her  sister,  Queen  Eliza- 
beth. Elizabeth  was  too  wise  a  woman  either  to  accept  or 


1556-1568] 


A    CHILD  S    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN 


239 


to  reject  him.  She  was  herself  a  Protestant,  and  she  knew 
that  the  English  people  would  not  forgive  her  if  she  mar- 
ried a  Catholic ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  she  did  not  want  to 
offend  so  powerful  a  monarch  as  Philip.  So  she  coquetted 
with  him,  and  neither  said  yes  nor  no;  till  he,  weary  of 


WORK-ROOM   OF   PHILIP   THE   SECOND 


answers  which  might  mean  anything,  married  Elizabeth — 
or  Isabella,  as  the  Spaniards  called  her — of  France,  who 
was  fourteen  at  the  time.  Elizabeth  of  England  took  the 
marriage  in  dudgeon. 

"  Your  master,"  said  she  to   the  Spanish  ambassador, 


240  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  [1556-1568 

"  must  have  been  much  in  love  with  me  not  to  be  able  to 
wait  four  months." 

Philip  married  his  wife  Isabella  by  proxy  in  June,  1559, 
and  did  not  see  her  face  till  January,  1560,  when  she  joined 
him  in  Spain.  She  was  tall,  with  dark  eyes  and  dark  hair; 
full  of  wit  and  merriment,  after  the  manner  of  her  country, 
and  in  this  a  contrast  to  her  gloomy  husband,  who  spent 
his  time  pouring  over  papers  with  a  scowl  on  his  yellow 
face.  The  wedding  festival  was  joyous.  In  the  public 
squares  tables  were  set  with  good  things  which  all  were 
free  to  eat;  the  fountains  ran  with  wine.  I  am  afraid 
that  after  the  holiday  was  over  poor  little  Isabella  did  not 
find  her. life  as  pleasant  as  it  had  been  in  her  own  sunny 
France. 

She  dined  alone,  with  thirty  of  her  ladies  standing  round 
the  room.  One  of  these  carved  the  meat  for  her;  another 
poured  out  the  wine.  The  others  talked  with  gentlemen 
who  flirted,  and  kept  their  hats  on  ;  etiquette  forbade  that 
any  of  them  should  address  the  queen.  After  dinner -she 
retired  to  her  room,  where  her  jester  tried  to  amuse  her 
with  stupid  jokes,  and  ladies  sang  and  played  the  lute, 
often  out  of  tune.  I  fear  that  the  life  was  dull  for  one  so 
young  and  gay. 

In  order  to  divert  her  mind,  her  husband  sometimes 
took  her  to  a  bull-fight,  which  disgusted  her,  and  some- 
times to  an  auto-da-fe,  where  she  saw  Protestants  and  Jews 
burned  at  the  stake.  This  was  the  chief  entertainment  at 
Valladolid,  where  the  court  lived.  It  was  a  strange  per- 
formance to  take  a  young  lady  to  see. 

At  six  in  the  morning  the  church-bells  tolled,  and  a  pro- 
cession of  troops,  priests,  inquisitors,  and  magistrates  ac- 
companied the  prisoners  of  the  Inquisition  from  its  dismal 
fortress  to  the  great  square.  Some  of  the  prisoners  were 
dressed  in  black;  these  were  heretics  who  had  abjured 
their  heresy,  and  whose  lives  were  spared  on  condition  of 
their  giving  up  their  property  to  the  Church  and  serving 
a  term  in  jail.  The  others  were  dressed  in  loose  sacks  of 


1556-1568]  A   CHILD'S    HISTORY    OP    SPAIN  241 

yellow  clotb,  painted  with  figures  of  dancing  devils  who 
represented  the  inmates  of  hell.     These  were  the  culprits 


CRUCIFIX   TO  WHICH  PHILIP  THE  SECOND  PRAYED 

who  were  to  be  burned  alive.     Many  of  both  classes  had 
to  be  supported  as  they  walked,  their  limbs  had  been  so 
16 


242  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [1556-1568 

twisted  and  crippled  by  the  tortures  they  had  suffered  in 
the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition. 

When  they  were  all  in  place,  some  high  churchman 
preached  a  sermon  on  the  sweet  mercies  of  the  Church ; 
then  the  sentences  of  those  who  were  to  be  fined  and  jailed 
were  read ;  the  others,  in  the  yellow  sacks,  were  handed  to 
the  executioner  to  be  dealt  with,  as  the  grand  inquisitor 
said,  "in  all  kindness  and  mercy."  The  kindness  and 
mercy  consisted  in  chaining  them  to  iron  stakes,  piling  fag- 
ots round  them,  and  burning  them  to  death  in  sight  of  the 
people  and  the  court. 

A  victim  led  past  the  king  cried  to  him : 

"  Is  it  thus  you  allow  your  innocent  subjects  to  be  perse- 
cuted ?" 

To  which  Philip  replied  : 

"  Wert  thou  my  own  son,  I  would  fetch  the  wood  to  burn 
such  a  wretch  as  thou  art." 

I  can  hardly  think  that  pretty  Isabella  enjoyed  such 
spectacles. 

After  a  time  the  Inquisition  rather  overdid  their  busi- 
ness I  think.  They  accused  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo  of 
heresy,  and  kept  him  in  prison  for  seventeen  years,  tortur- 
ing him  from  time  to  time  to  remind  him  in  whose  hands 
he  was.  This  shocked  the  pope,  and  he  removed  the  head 
inquisitor,  whose  name  was  Valdes.  But  the  holy  office 
succeeded  in  stamping  out  Protestantism  in  Spain,  so  that 
it  has  never  reared  its  head  from  that  day  to  this ;  and  it 
demoralized  the  Spanish  people  so  that  their  sense  of  right 
and  wrong  became  confused,  and  they  have  never  recov- 
ered from  the  obliquity. 

It  was  while  the  Inquisition  was  busy  with  its  bloody 
work  that  Philip  lost  his  son  and  his  wife,  both  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three.  The  son,  Carlos,  whose  mother  was  Mary 
of  Portugal,  grew  up  to  be  a  headstrong,  passionate,  eccen- 
tric youth;  he  felt  that  no  one  loved  him,  and  that  he  was 
friendless;  there  were  but  two  people  whom  he  loved,  his 
uncle,  Don  John  of  Austria,  and  his  step-mother,  Isabella 


1556-1568J  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  243 

of  France ;  everybody  else  he  hated,  and  showed  his  hate 
so  plainly  that  he  was  said  by  his  father  to  be  mad.  At 
last  the  story  got  wind  that  he  intended  to  kill  his  father, 
and  Philip  made  him  a  prisoner  in  his  room.  He  was  not 
long  a  prisoner.  In  August,  1568,  he  died. 

Less  than  two  months  afterwards  Queen  Isabella  died,  a 
few  hours  after  her  baby  was  born.  She  died  of  a  disease 
which  the  doctors  could  not  understand;  she  was  chiefly 
treated  with  relics. 

After  both  had  been  laid  in  their  graves  a  dark  and 
dreadful  story  began  to  be  whispered  that  the  queen  and 
her  stepson  had  been  in  love  with  each  other,  and  that 
Philip,  having  found  it  out,  had  put  them  both  to  death. 

I  think  he  was  capable  of  doing  so ;  but  it  is  not  yet 
proven  that  he  did. 

The  suspicion  was  first  started  by  the  warmth  of  the 
affection  which  Carlos  showed  for  his  stepmother,  and  by 
her  kindness  to  him.  They  had  been  betrothed  before 
Philip  ever  thought  of  marrying  Isabella ;  it  was  natural 
that  the  son  should  feel  bitterly  at  losing  the  girl  he  in- 
tended to  make  his  wife. 

The  case  was  so  suspicious  that  the  pope  demanded  a 
full  explanation  from  Philip,  and  I  think  that  if  it  had 
been  satisfactory,  it  would  have  been  made  public.  Popes 
in  those  days  were  arbitrary ;  but  they  were  not  always 
intrepid.  No  blame  came  to  Philip  from  Rome. 

I  think  you  must  conclude  that  the  case  was  a  dark 
mystery  which  can  never  be  unravelled.  I  am  afraid  that 
Carlos  who  had  been  betrothed  to  Isabel  did  really  love 
her  more  warmly  than  befitted  a  son-in-law;  but  there  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  her  affection  for  him  was  deeper 
than  became  a  mother-in-law. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

THE    DUKE   OF   ALVA 

A.D.  1559-1570 

GKAVER  matters  even  than  the  death  of  wife  and  son 
were  making  the  gloomy  soul  of  Philip  gloomier  than  ever. 
Rebellion  against  Spain  had  broken  out  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries— by  which  name,  in  consequence  of  their  lying  on  a 
level  with  the  sea,  Holland,  Belgium,  and  Flanders  are 
known. 

Under  the  Emperor  Charles  these  countries,  which  had 
for  some  time  been  provinces  of  Spain,  had  grown  prosper- 
ous and  rich.  Antwerp  was  the  greatest  place  of  trade  in 
the  world,  full  of  busy  factories,  great  warehouses,  and 
wealthy  banks.  Traders  and  manufacturers  from  every 
country  in  Europe  went  there  to  start  in  business.  Big- 
pooped  vessels  were  seen  loading  and  unloading  at  its 
wharves,  and  long  strings  of  loaded  wagons — taking  the 
place  which  railroads  do  now — rolled  along  its  streets. 
All  classes  of  people  were  well-to-do. 

The  merchants  lived  like  princes;  mechanics  had  neat 
dwellings,  which  were  kept  spotlessly  clean,  and  were 
handsomely  furnished ;  the  working-class  was  well  clothed 
and  well  fed;  it  was  hard  to  find  a  peasant  who  could  not 
read  and  write.  •  Now  these  people,  being  readers  and 
thinkers,  and  listeners  to  those  who  had  travelled,  were 
disposed  to  become  Protestants.  Charles  had  tried  to  stop 
the  heresy,  as  he  called  it,  by  burning  and  beheading  those 
who  left  the  old  church;  but  though  he  put  many  thou- 
sands to  death,  he  said  on  his  death-bed  that  his  effort  to 
destroy  Protestantism  had  been  a  failure. 

Philip,  frowning  in  his  dark  chamber,  now  resolved  to 


1559-1570]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  245 

accomplish  that  which  his  father  had  been  unable  to  do — 
to  root  out  heresy.  And  as  it  was  absolutely  necessary 
for  him  to  remain  in  Spain,  he  appointed  to  carry  out  his 
purposes,  and  to  be  regent  in  the  Low  Countries  in  his  stead, 
his  half-sister,  Margaret  of  Parma.  This  was  a  remark- 
able woman ;  the  courtiers  called  her  a  man  in  petticoats. 
She  had  the  will,  and  the  hard,  cold  temper  of  a  man. 
Her  only  pleasure  was  hunting;  on  her  upper  lip  and 
chin  there  grew  a  down  like  a  beard.  She  was  devout;  in 
Holy  Week  she  always  washed  the  feet  of  twelve  poor 
girls. 

To  advise  this  man -woman  Philip  chose  as  her  chief 
counsellor  Cardinal  Granvelle,  who  was  as  fond  of  persecu- 
tion as  he  was  himself.  The  great  nobles  of  Flanders  and  the 
Low  Countries  generally  hated  Granvelle,  whose  mean,  nar- 
row soul  they  had  long  ago  measured.  Egmont  and  the 
Prince  of  Orange  could  not  bear  him,  nor  could  the  peo- 
ple. But  they  submitted.  Not  always,  however. 

At  Valenciennes  two  Calvinist  preachers  were  arrested 
for  heresy,  tried,  and  chained  to  the  stake  to  be  burned. 
But  the  people  rushed  to  the  place  of  execution,  scattered 
the  fagots,  loosed  the  chains,  and  carried  off  the  preachers 
in  triumph.  Margaret  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  Her 
brother  had  taught  her  that  "  rigorous  and  severe  meas- 
ures are  the  only  ones  to  be  employed  in  matters  of  relig- 
ion." Granvelle  advised  her  how  to  act;  she  sent  an  army 
to  Valenciennes,  caught  the  leaders  of  the  mob  and  hanged 
them.  Granvelle  exulted. 

Then  the  nobles,  the  Prince  of  Orange,  Egmont,  and 
the  citizens  generally,  demanded  that  Granvelle  should 
be  dismissed.  Margaret  refused.  Egmont  wrote  to  the 
king  to  demand  the  recall  of  the  hated  cardinal.  Philip, 
smiling  a  bitter,  cruel  smile,  refused.  But  the  cardinal, 
who  had  read  that  unpopular  ministers  sometimes  lost 
their  heads,  remembered  that  he  had  not  seen  his  old 
mother  for  fourteen  years,  and  that  he  must,  as  a  good  son, 
pay  her  a  visit.  So  he  disappeared  for  a  time.  I  don't 


246  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1559-1570 

think  Philip  and  his  sister  won  the  first  game  in  the  match 
with  the  Low  Countries. 

You  must  understand  that  it  was  not  the  Protestants 
alone  who  were  opposed  to  religious  persecution  in  the 
Low  Countries.  Most  of  the  nobles  were  Catholics;  Eg- 
mont,  who  was  one  of  the  fiercest  opponents  of  the  Inqui- 
sition and  Philip's  cruelties,  was  a  stanch  Catholic.  He 
went  to  Spain  on  behalf  of  his  country  to  say  that  people  of 
all  faiths,  including  most  of  the  Catholic  priests,  believed 
that  nothing  would  satisfy  the  people  of  the  Low  Countries 
but  freedom  of  conscience  and  freedom  of  worship. 

Philip  replied,  grimly  stroking  his  thin  beard,  that  if  that 
was  the  case  they  should  have  both.  But  Egmont  had  no 
sooner  turned  his  back  than  the  treacherous  king  broke 
his  promises,  and  wrote  to  Margaret  that  the  laws  against 
the  Protestants  must  be  enforced  with  the  utmost  rigor; 
that  no  heretic  must  be  allowed  to  live,  that  the  Inquisi- 
tion must  be  restored  with  full  power,  and  that  the  whole 
force  of  the  government  must  be  employed  to  sustain  it. 

The  letter  in  which  he  wrote  these  things  fell  like  a 
thunder-clap  on  the  Low  Countries.  Margaret  declared 
she  would  resign  her  regency.  Philip  would  not  accept 
her  resignation.  She  begged  him  to  come  to  Brussels  him- 
self. He  promised  he  would,  and  of  course  did  not. 
Egmont  ground  his  teeth  with  rage  at  having  been  hood- 
winked. The  Prince  of  Orange,  more  self-contained,  said: 
"  I  fear  me  we  shall  see  the  beginning  of  a  fine  tragedy. 
These  despatches  will  drive  men  into  rebellion,  and  I  do 
not  see  myself  how  I  can  endure  them." 

Thousands  of  industrious  Flemings,  foreseeing  the  future, 
crossed  the  water  to  England,  carrying  their  trades  with 
them.  Others  sharpened  their  knives  and  their  axes,  re- 
solved that  if  the  Inquisitors  came  near  their  houses  there 
would  be  two  sides  to  the  argument. 

At  length  the  pent-up  fury  of  the  Protestants  burst  out. 
They  sacked  convents,  monasteries,  and  churches;  breaking 
the  statues,  cutting  the  pictures  to  pieces,  smashing  the 


1559-1570]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  247 

altars  with  their  furniture,  and  tearing  down  pulpits  and 
chapels.  This  went  on  until  Margaret  promised  she  would 
not  obey  her  brother's  orders,  and  would  not  interfere 
with  the  meeting-houses  of  the  Protestants;  then  peace 
was  restored.  She  wrote  to  Philip  that  he  need  not  be 
bound  by  her  bargain  unless  he  chose  to.  She  was  a  wor- 
thy sister  of  such  a  brother.  As  for  him,  when  he  got  the 
news  he  set  his  bloodless  lips  firmly,  plucked  his  beard 
till  some  hairs  were  torn  out,  and  muttered: 

"  It  shall  cost  them  dear.  By  the  soul  of  my  father,  it 
shall  cost  them  dear." 

And  he  ordered  the  Duke  of  Alva  to  take  command  in 
the  Low  Countries. 

The  Duke  of  Alva  was  a  soldier  of  repute,  and  a  high 
grandee  of  Castile.  He  looked  upon  the  world  as  a  camp 
in  which  it  was  mutiny,  punishable  with  death,  to  dispute 
the  orders  of  the  general  commanding.  He  was  sixty 
years  of  age,  and  as  hard  as  a  flint.  His  first  act  was  to 
entrap  Egrnont  and  Hoorne,  who  were  the  best -loved 
leaders  of  the  people,  and  to  send  them  prisoners  to  Ghent. 
Then  he  organized  a  court  to  try  such  prisoners  as  might 
be  brought  before  it.  You  can  fancy  what  the  judges  were 
from  the  name  the  people  gave  to  the  court — the  Council 
of  Blood. 

Before  the  Council  of  Blood  in  the  first  months  of  1568 
several  hundred  of  the  best  people  of  the  Low  Countries 
were  brought  and  sentenced  to  death.  They  were  ex- 
ecuted day  after  day,  some  by  hanging,  some  by  behead- 
ing, some  by  burning.  Most  of  them  were  Protestants, 
but  some  were  Catholics  who  were  in  favor  of  religious 
freedom.  On  Ash-Wednesday  five  hundred  burghers  were 
torn  out  of  their  beds  and  carried  before  the  Bloody 
Council.  One  of  the  members  of  the  council  was  so  worn 
out  by  signing  death-warrants  that  he  fell  asleep,  and 
had  to  be  awakened  to  vote  on  the  guilt  or  innocence  of 
the  prisoner  on  trial.  He  would  rub  his  eyes  and  croak, 
"  To  the  gallows  !  To  the  gallows !" 


248  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1559-1570 

But  iron-hearted  Alva  was  not  satisfied  with  the  execu- 
tion of  common  people.  He  hauled  Egmont  and  Hoorne 
out  of  their  prison  at  Ghent  to  be  tried  before  the  Coun- 
cil of  Blood. 

Egmont  was  honored  and  loved  by  every  one  in  the 
country.  He  had  won  for  Spain  the  battles  of  St.  Quentin 
and  Gravelines.  He  was  a  firm  Catholic,  and  had  never 
wavered  in  his  faith.  He  had  always  been  loyal  to  his 
king.  But  Philip  was  so  suspicious  that  he  was  afraid  of 
what  he  might  do,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  Alva  acted 
by  his  orders.  Egmont  had  a  wife  and  eleven  small  chil- 
dren. The  former  had  begged  on  her  knees  to  be  allowed 
to  see  her  husband  during  the  nine  months  he  had  been  in 
prison:  Alva  had  sternly  refused.  All  Egmont's  property 
had  been  seized,  and  his  children  would  have  starved  but 
for  a  small  sum  of  money  which,  out  of  the  proceeds,  Alva 
allowed  to  be  sent  to  their  mother. 

On  the  morning  of  June  5th,  1568,  the  prisoner  heard 
mass,  and  made  his  confession.  He  wrote  a  letter  to 
Philip,  which  he  dated  "On  the  point  of  death,"  saying: 

"  Whatever  I  have  done,  I  have  done  from  a  sincere  re- 
gard for  the  service  of  God  and  your  majesty.  Wherefore 
I  pray  your  majesty,  for  the  sake  of  my  past  services,  to 
take  yity  on  my  poor  wife,  my  children,  and  my  servants." 

At  ten  o'clock  he  dressed  in  a  crimson  damask  robe, 
over  which  was  a  Spanish  mantle  figured  with  gold.  He 
wore  black  silk  breeches,  and  a  black  silk  hat.  As  he 
was  led  by  soldiers  through  the  streets  the  shops  closed, 
business  ceased,  and  the  church-bells  tolled.  Grief  was  on 
every  face.  He  walked  firmly  up  the  scaffold  steps,  and 
after  a  brief  prayer  turned  to  the  executioner,  who,  with  a 
single  blow  of  his  sword,  struck  off  his  head. 

This  shocking  murder  of  one  of  the  purest  men  the  Low 
Countries  ever  produced  roused  the  people  to  fury,  and 
rebellion  broke  out  in  every  direction.  The  rebels  chose 
William  of  Orange  to  be  their  leader;  he  carried  on  a  fit- 
ful warfare  against  the  Duke  of  Alva  for  five  years.  There 


1559-1570]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  249 

were  no  striking  successes  on  either  side.  But  though,  on 
the  whole,  Alva  won  more  advantages  in  the  field  than 
William,  being  an  abler  soldier,  yet  he  could  not  help 
seeing  that  mainly  through  his  cruelties  and  his  arrogant 
disposition,  the  Low  Countries  were  forever  lost  to  Spain. 
He  said  to  himself  when  he  left  the  country  in  1573  that 
he  had  caused  eighteen  thousand  Netherlandei's  to  be  exe- 
cuted in  six  years;  he  might  have  added  that  he  had  cost 
Spain  every  friend  she  had  in  that  part  of  the  world,  and 
every  foot  of  land  she  had  ever  owned. 

To  him  and  Pizarro,  and  men  of  their  stamp,  the  horrible 
reputation  which  the  Spaniards  bore  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury was  due.  Your  ancestors,  who  lived  in  those  days, 
believed  that  every  Spaniard  was  a  monster  of  cruelty 
and  wickedness  —  a  devil  in  human  form.  Vessels  which 
were  fitted  out  to  roam  the  seas  from  England,  France, 
Holland,  Italy,  and  Portugal,  attacked  Spanish  ships 
wherever  they  found  them,  and  gave  the  crews  no  quarter, 
whether  war  was  raging  or  not.  Spaniards  were  counted 
a  race  apart  from  the  rest  of  mankind;  not  really  human, 
but  diabolical,  to  be  hunted  down  and  exterminated  like 
vicious  wild  beasts.  If  you  read  the  books  which  were 
written  at  that  period  you  will  be  astonished  at  the  pitiless 
hate  which  the  very  name  of  a  Spaniard  aroused  all  over 
the  world. 

If  you  travel  in  Spain  to-day  you  will  find  a  courteous, 
humane,  kindly,  generous,  hospitable  people,  whom  it  is  de- 
lightful to  know.  But  men  like  Philip  the  Second  and 
Pizarro  and  Alva  stamped  their  imprint  on  the  race  to 
which  they  belonged,  and  for  a  time  it  suffered  for  their 
crimes. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII 

DON  JOHN   OF  AUSTRIA 

A.D.  1547-1578 

IN  the  year  that  Cortez  died  there  was  born  in  Germany 
a  son  to  a  beautiful  young  girl  named  Barbara  Blom- 
berg.  The  child  was  taken  from  his  mother  when  quite 
young  and  was  sent  to  Spain,  where  he  was  brought  up  in 
the  family  of  a  hidalgo  named  Quixada.  He  grew  up  a 
tall,  fine,  handsome  lad,  fond  of  out-door  sports,  and  not 
very  fond  of  his  books  ;  but  so  good-tempered  and  gener- 
ous that  every  one  loved  him. 

When  he  was  thirteen  years  old,  he  was  told  by  Quixada 
that  King  Philip  wished  to  see  him,  and  sure  enough,  next 
day,  as  he  was  riding  through  the  woods,  he  met  the  king, 
who  alighted  from  his  horse,  gazed  long  and  earnestly  at 
the  boy,  and  asked  him: 

"  Do  you  know  who  your  father  was  ?" 

Now  that  very  question  the  boy  had  often  put  to  him- 
self and  to  Quixada  without  getting  any  answer.  He 
flushed  scarlet,  and  his  breath  came  quick  and  fast;  but  he 
could  not  utter  a  word.  The  king  spoke  kindly: 

"Don't  be  afraid,  my  boy;  the  Emperor  Charles  the 
Fifth,  who  is  now  in  glory,  was  your  father  as  well  as 
mine."  And  turning  to  the  courtiers  he  added,  "  Gentle- 
men, let  me  introduce  my  brother." 

Up  to  this  time  the  lad  had  been  called  Geronimo. 
Philip  now  ordered  that  his  name  should  be  John  of  Aus- 
tria, though  he  had  no  more  to  do  with  Austria  than  you 
or  I  have. 

He  was  given  a  household,  and  was  sent  to  college, 
where  he  studied  assiduously,  and  was  particularly  fond  of 


1547-1578]  A  CHILD'S  IIISTORY  OF  SPAIN  251 

histories  of  wars  and  books  about  soldiering.  At  eighteen 
he  ran  away  from  college  in  order  to  join  the  Knights  of 
Malta  in  their  fight  against  the  Turks,  but  was  stopped  on 
the  way  by  the  king,  who  said  he  was  too  young  for  such 
work.  Everybody  in  Spain  heard  of  the  affair,  and  men 
and  women  were  never  tired  of  talking  of  his  gallantry. 

When  he  was  twenty-one  his  brother  gave  him  the  com- 
mand of  a  small  fleet  which  sailed  to  chastise  the  Corsairs. 
He  was  eight  months  away.  During  that  time  he  gave 
the  pirates  such  a  lesson — sinking  their  vessels,  thrashing 
them  in  fair  fight,  rescuing  their  Christian  prisoners — that 
they  were  crippled  for  a  long  time,  and  Don  John  returned 
to  Madrid  triumphant. 

The  heart  of  the  Spanish  people  went  out  to  him.  He 
was  genial  and  sunny  in  manner;  his  smile  was  good-hu- 
mored; his  curling  blond  hair  rippled  as  he  swung  it  off 
his  forehead;  he  was  straight  as  a  pine;  he  dressed  in  gold 
and  white,  with  a  crimson  scarf  loosely  knotted  over  his 
chest;  his  cap  was  blue  velvet,  with  nodding  plumes.  No 
one  could  ride  or  fence  or  dance  or  play  at  tennis  as  well 
as  he.  I  can  quite  understand  how  the  girls  of  Madrid 
thought  there  was  no  one  in  all  the  world  as  charming  as 
he,  and  how  they  sat  at  their  lattices  watching  for  him  to 
pass. 

War  breaking  out  again  between  Spain  and  the  Moriscoes 
— I  shall  have  something  to  tell  you  of  it  in  the  chapter 
after  the  next — and  the  Spanish  commanders  meeting  with 
defeat  after  defeat,  Don  John  was  sent  to  lead  the  army. 
He  was  hampered  by  counsellors  whom  his  brother  sent 
to  advise  him;  but  at  last  he  got  his  chance,  and  he  put 
down  the  rebels  in  quick  time. 

The  chief  of  the  Moriscoes  rode  to  the  tent  of  the  Span- 
ish general  and  alighted.  Don  John  stood  by  the  door  of 
the  tent,  surrounded  by  his  officers.  Said  the  Morisco : 

"  We  implore  your  highness  in  the  name  of  his  majesty 
to  show  us  mercy  and  to  pardon  our  transgressions,  which, 
we  admit,  have  been  great." 


252  A    CHILUS    HISTORY    OF   SPAIN  [1547-1578 

And  he  knelt  before  Don  John,  and  handed  him  his  cim- 
eter,  while  the  Moorish  flag  was  thrown  at  his  feet. 

Stooping  forward,  Don  John  raised  the  Moorish  general, 
returned  him  his  sword,  bidding  him  henceforth  employ  it 
in  the  service  of  Spain,  and  gave  him  a  royal  welcome  to 
his  tent. 

After  this  there  was  nothing  to  keep  Don  John  in 
Granada,  and  there  was  a  general  cry  for  him  at  Madrid. 
The  King  of  Spain,  the  Republic  of  Venice,  and  the  pope 
were  fitting  out  a  fleet  to  contend  with  the  Turks  for  the 
mastery  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  Sultan  of  Turkey  had 
said  he  would  make  the  Mediterranean  a  Turkish  lake,  and 
that  no  vessel  should  sail  its  waters  unless  it  paid  tribute 
to  him.  France  did  pay  tribute;  but  Spain,  Venice,  and 
the  pope  refused. 

They  felt  that  sooner  or  later  the  mastery  would  have 
to  be  settled  in  fair  fight,  and  though  Turkey  was  admit- 
ted to  be  stronger  than  any  one  of  them  singly,  they 
argued  that  the  three  together  could  more  than  hold  their 
own  against  the  Turks.  So  they  gathered  a  great  fleet 
and  a  powerful  army,  and  when  the  question  arose  who 
should  command  it,  every  voice  agreed,  Don  John. 

The  combined  fleet  contained  three  hundred  royal  gal- 
leys, besides  smaller  fighting  ships,  and  on  board  them 
were  twenty-nine  thousand  soldiers,  and  a  great  force  of 
artillery.  To  meet  them,  the  sultan  mustered  a  fleet  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  royal  galleys,  besides  smaller  vessels; 
on  board  of  them  were  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
fighting  men,  besides  galley-slaves  who  rowed  at  the  oars. 
To  these,  who  were  Christians,  the  Turkish  commander 
said,  when  the  battle  was  expected: 

"  If  your  countrymen  win  the  day,  Allah  give  you  the 
benefit  of  it!  If  I  win  it,  you  shall  surely  have  your  free- 
dom. If  you  feel  that  I  do  well  by  you,  do  then  the  like 
by  me." 

Don  John  sailed  by  way  of  Naples,  and  there  had 
hard  work  to  tear  himself  away  from  the  beautiful  Nea- 


1547-1578] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN 


253 


politau  girls,  who  would  far  rather  have  let  the  Turks  have 
their  own  way  with  the  Mediterranean  than  that  such  a 


SPANISH  GALLEYS  IN   A  SEA-FIGHT 

darling  as  he  should  run  the  risk  of  being  killed  or  his 
splendid  face  disfigured  by  wounds.     But  Don  John  was 


254  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1547-1578 

on  too  serious  business  bent  to  let  them  beguile  him.  He 
speedily  joined  the  allied  fleet  at  Messina. 

Thence,  on  October  7th,  1571,  he  weighed  anchor,  and 
sailing  eastward  over  the  blue  Ionian  sea,  he  descried  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Gulf  of  Lepanto  the  great  Turkish  fleet 
spread  in  a  half-circle,  with  the  crescent  flag  floating  aloft, 
evidently  waiting  for  their  prey.  A  council  was  held,  and 
most  of  the  admirals  and  generals  were  for  waiting  and 
engaging  the  Turk  in  the  open  sea,  where  his  vast  force  of 
soldiers  would  not  help  him.  But  Don  John,  having  heard 
them  all,  bade  his  officers  hoist  the  signal  for  battle,  and 
battle  in  close  order. 

He  leaped  into  a  boat  and  gave  a  short  order  to  each 
division  commander  to  be  read  to  his  men.  It  ran  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  You  have  come  to  fight  the  battle  of  the  cross — to  con- 
quer or  to  die.  But  whether  you  are  to  conquer  or  to  die, 
do  your  duty  this  day,  and  you  will  insure  a  glorious  im- 
mortality." 

At  noon  the  fleet  engaged  on  a  front  three  miles  long; 
the  battle  lasted  till  four  in  the  afternoon.  At  that  hour 
one  hundred  and  thirty  Turkish  vessels  had  been  taken, 
eighty  had  been  burned  or  sunk,  and  the  rest  had  escaped. 
The  Turkish  admiral  had  been  killed,  and  the  slaves  to 
whom  he  had  promised  their  freedom  got  it  from  Don 
John.  The  Christians  lost  fifteen  galleys  and  about  eight 
thousand  men;  the  Turks  are  said  to  have  lost  in  killed 
and  prisoners  thirty  thousand. 

Ali  Pacha,  the  Turkish  admiral,  had  been  thrown  down 
by  a  boarding  party,  who  made  for  him  to  kill  him.  He 
told  them  where  he  kept  his  money  and  his  jewels,  and  all 
but  one  left  him  to  secure  them.  That  one,  thinking  that 
Ali's  head  was  the  most  valuable  jewel  he  could  capture, 
cut  it  off,  and  carried  it  to  Don  John. 

"Wretch!"  said  the  young  commander,  "what  do  you 
bring  me  that  for?" 

And  he  ordered  the  man  out  of  his  sight.     Ali  had  two 


1547-1578]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  255 

sons,  young  boys,  who  were  on  board  his  ship.  Don  John 
sent  for  them,  took  them  into  his  own  cabin,  treated  them 
as  if  they  were  his  friends,  and  at  the  first  opportunity 
sent  them  home  to  Constantinople.  For  this  their  sister 
sent  him  a  jewel  of  great  price,  but  he  returned  it,  saying 
that  a  Spanish  gentleman  could  not  accept  such  presents, 
and  that  he  had  only  done  his  duty. 

His  prize-money  resulting  from  the  victory  was  so  large 
as  to  be  a  fortune;  he  distributed  every  dollar, of  it  among 
the  wounded  sailors  and  soldiers  of  the  fleet,  and  the  or- 
phans of  those  who  had  fallen. 

There  were  not  honors  enough,  nor  smiles  enough,  nor 
flowers  enough  at  Messina  to  heap  on  the  conqueror  when 
he  returned.  Men  roared  themselves  dumb  in  cheering 
him,  and  the  fairest  ladies  of  the  beautiful  Sicilian  city 
scrambled  and  fought  with  each  other  to  kiss  his  hand. 

When  the  news  reached  the  pope  he  fell  on  his  knees, 
and  cried  in  the  language  of  the  Bible: 

"There  was  a  man  sent  from  God,  and  his  name  was 
John  !" 

The  victory  did  indeed  save  Christendom  on  the  Med- 
iterranean. If  it  had  been  lost,  that  sea  might  in  reality 
have  become  a  Turkish  lake. 

But  I  suspect  that  there  was  one  man  who  was  not  over- 
whelmed with  joy  at  the  victory.  That  was  John's  broth- 
er Philip.  For  I  notice  that  the  king  began  to  show  signs 
of  envy  and  jealousy  which  boded  no  good  to  his  half- 
brother. 

John  was  appointed  to  command  in  the  Low  Countries, 
where,  after  Alva,  no  Spaniard  could  hope  to  win  the  good- 
will of  the  people,  or  prevent  the  province  from  slipping 
out  of  the  grasp  of  Spain.  And  Philip  took  care  that  Don 
John  should  not  have  men  enough  or  money  enough  to 
accomplish  anything. 

He  did  the  best  he  could  with  the  means  at  his  command. 
Once  he  nearly  lost  his  life  in  an  ambuscade  set  for  him  by 
the  angry  Netherlander ;  he  was  rescued  just  in  time  by 


256  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1547-1578 

his  nephew,  Alexandra  Farnese,  the  son  of  the  man-woman 
Margaret.  Another  time  he  was  penned  up  so  long  in  a 
swamp  that  he  caught  a  fever,  and  never  recovered  from  it. 
The  books  differ  about  the  cause  of  his  death.  Some 
say  he  died  of  the  fever.  Others  pretend  that  he  was  poi- 
soned, which  I  think  is  likely.  At  any  rate,  when  he  died, 
King  Philip  said  it  would  be  too  expensive  to  bring  his 
body  home  in  a  cavalcade.  He  had  it  cut  into  three  pieces, 
and  brought,  home  in  bags  tied  to  the  saddlebows  of  horse- 
men. When  it  reached  Madrid,  the  pieces  were  sewed  to- 
gether with  silver  wire,  and  the  body  was  shown  to  the 
people. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

THE   KNIGHTS    OF   MALTA 

A.D.  1565 

IN  order  to  give  you  a  connected  story  of  Don  John,  I 
described  the  battle  of  Lepanto  without  referring  to  the 
siege  of  Malta,  which  took  place  six  years  before,  and  in 
which  Christian  and  Moslem  came  to  close  quarters. 

The  Turks,  who  were  a  warlike  nation  from  Asia,  capt- 
ured Constantinople  over  one  hundred  years  before  Philip 
the  Second  came  to  the  throne,  and  during  all  of  those 
hundred  years  they  had  striven  mightily  to  uproot  Chris- 
tianity in  the  Mediterranean  countries,  and  to  plant  the  re- 
ligion of  Mahomet.  They  founded  or  seized  a  number  of 
cities  in  northern  Africa,  and  planted  colonies  which  were 
subject  to  their  sultan.  They  overran  the  European  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean  as  far  as  Italy,  and  laid  hands  on 
many  of  the  islands  of  the  Levant.  One  of  the  islands 
which  they  took  was  Rhodes. 

This  island  was  the  home  of  an  order  known  as  the 
Knights  of  St.  John,  who  were  monks,  and  likewise  soldiers 
and  sailors.  They  fought  for  the  cross  against  the  infidel, 
but  they  did  not  disdain  to  plunder  the  infidel  when  they 
had  beaten  him  in  fair  fight.  From  their  island  home  of 
Rhodes  they  put  to  sea  in  fighting  ships,  which  gave  bat- 
tle to  the  Turkish  frigates,  corsairs,  and  merchant  ships, 
and  quite  often  captured  them  and  carried  off  their  car- 
goes. In  this  way  the  order  had  grown  rich  and  powerful. 
It  was  thought  honorable  for  princes  and  noblemen  to  be- 
long to  it. 

When  the  knights  were  driven  out  of  Rhodes  they  cast 
about  for  a  new  home,  and  the  Emperor  Charles  offering 


258  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1565 

them  the  island  of  Malta,  they  gladly  accepted  it,  and 
prepared  to  continue  their  career  as  sea-rovers  from  that 
base. 

Malta  lies  in  the  middle  of  the  Mediterranean  sea,  about 
sixty  miles  from  Sicily,  and  two  hundred  from  Tripoli,  in 
Africa.  It  is  fifteen  miles  long  and  nine  miles  wide.  It 
is  really  a  mere  rock  in  the  sea,  with  no  soil  on  it  except 
what  has  been  brought  in  bags  and  boxes  from  Sicily.  It 
is  swept  by  the  terrible  south  wind  from  Africa,  and  it  is 
only  by  sheltering  plants  against  this  wind  and  against 
the  fierce  rays  of  the  sun  that  anything  can  be  grown 
there.  ,.But  it  stands  in  the  path  of  vessels  sailing  up  the 
Mediterranean,  and  it  has  an  excellent  harbor,  in  which  the 
largest  ships  can  anchor;  it  has,  consequently,  been  coveted 
by  maritime  nations,  and  is  now  much  thought  of  by  the 
English,  who  hold  it.  It  looked  barren  and  desolate  to  the 
Knights  of  St.  John  after  the  smiling  plains  and  the  flowery 
valleys  of  Rhodes.  But  the  fine  large  harbor  was  for  the 
knights  a  good  place  from  which  to  launch  their  cruisers 
against  the  Turks  and  against  the  cities  of  Africa;  and 
the  knights,  with  all  the  men  they  could  hire,  bestirred 
themselves  to  build  a  town  there,  and  to  build  strong 
forts  at  its  mouth,  calling  them  St.  Elmo  and  II  Borgo. 

Pretty  soon  the  knights  began  their  old  work,  and  Mal- 
tese galleys  swarmed  in  the  Mediterranean.  The  Sultan 
of  Turkey,  whose  name  was  Solyman  the  Second,  w^as  en- 
raged to  hear  of  the  capture  of  his  vessels  by  the  craft  fit- 
ted out  in  this  little  island,  and  to  find  that  he  had  to  do 
his  work  over  again.  He  resolved  to  make  an  end  of  the 
knights,  once  and  for  all.  He  fitted  out  a  fleet  of  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty  galleys,  with  a  hundred  smaller  vessels; 
armed  them  with  the  heaviest  artillery  known  in  those 
days,  filled  them  with  thirty  thousand  of  his  best  troops, 
and  despatched  them  against  Malta. 

The  grand-master  of  the  knights  knew  of  his  coming, 
and  begged  help  from  the  Christian  powers.  Volunteers 
enough  came  to  raise  his  force  to  nine  thousand  men,  in- 


1565]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  259 

eluding  seven  hundred  knights.  King  Philip  of  Spain 
bade  him  have  no  fear;  that  he  would  send  him  a  fleet  and 
an  army  that  would  demolish  all  the  Turks  in  Turkey. 
"  Was  he  not,"  he  said,  "  the  eldest  son  of  the  Church,  and 
the  champion  of  Christendom  against  the  infidel  ?" 

The  grand-master  of  the  knights  was  not  quite  satisfied, 
as  he  probably  knew  Philip,  and  what  his  promises  were 
worth.  But  he  held  his  peace.  He  was  a  tall,  gaunt 
old  warrior,  with  a  silvery  beard,  and  at  this  time  sixty- 
eight  years  of  age.  His  name  was  Parisol  de  la  Valette; 
he  was  a  French  Provengal,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the 
order  for  over  forty  years.  His  will  was  like  iron;  the 
knights  obeyed  him  as  children  obey  their  father.  He 
now  bestirred  himself  to  put  his  forts  in  a  position  of  de- 
fence, and  to  prepare  for  the  coming  conflict,  in  which  he 
knew  that  the  life  of  the  knights  and  the  existence  of  the 
order  were  at  stake. 

Early  in  the  dawn  of  May  18th,  1565,  over  the  danc- 
ing waves  of  the  blue  Mediterranean,  the  great  Turk- 
ish fleet  was  sighted  from  the  height  of  St.  Elmo.  It  was 
coming  on  with  a  fair  wind  under  full  sail,  and  with  Turk- 
ish pennons  floating  in  the  air.  Every  Christian  was  at 
his  post.  Valette  had  sent  the  old  and  infirm  to  Sicily; 
he  wanted  to  send  away  the  women,  too,  but  they  would 
not  go. 

The  Turkish  galleys  swept  past  the  front  of  the  island, 
and  landed  their  soldiers  at  the  southeastern  corner.  A 
swift  boat  was  promptly  despatched  to  the  viceroy  of  King 
Philip  in  Sicily,  praying  him  not  to  delay;  he  wrote  back 
that  he  could  not  possibly  come  before  the  loth  of  June. 

There  were  now  four  or  five  Turks  to  every  Christian 
on  the  island,  and  the  former  had  artillery  compared  to 
which  the  Christians'  pieces  were  pop-guns.  But  the 
grand-master,  as  calm  and  serene  as  ever,  walked  round 
among  his  men,  bidding  them  be  of  good  cheer.  On 
May  26th  the  Turks  got  their  guns  in  position,  and  opened 
fire  on  St.  Elmo.  It  was  in  no  position  to  stand  a  heavy 


260  A  CHILD'S  IIISTOKY  OF  SPAIN  [1565 

fire;  in  a  week  its  walls  were  shattered  by  the  tremendous 
rain  of  iron  and  stone  cannon-balls.  By  a  sudden  dash 
the  Turkish  soldiers  captured  the  outworks.  But  they 
could  get  no  farther,  though  the  knights  were  unable  to 
dislodge  them. 

The  grand -master  was  as  intrepid  as  ever,  and  kept  up 
the  men's  courage  with  brave  words.  It  was  then  the 
3d  or  4th  of  June,  and  the  Spanish  troops  had  been  prom- 
ised for  the  15th. 

The  knights,  however,  began  to  feel  the  strain.  Neither 
night  nor  day  did  the  rain  of  shot  cease,  and  the  garrison 
were  worn  out  by  watching  and  fighting.  Some  of  them 
went  to  Grand-Master  Valette  for  permission  to  surren- 
der. The  stern  old  warrior  heard  them  with  a  frown  on 
his  brow,  and  a  flush  on  his  weather-beaten  cheeks. 

"  I  will  not  surrender,"  he  said.  "  The  duty  of  a  Knight 
of  St.  John  is  to  die  for  the  cross,  and  to  die  in  the  way 
that  his  commanding  officer  directs.  I  direct  the  knights 
to  hold  the  post  at  all  hazards.  As  for  you,  gentlemen, 
you  may  retire  to  the  convent,  where  you  will  be  safe;  I 
will  replace  you  with  others  whom  I  can  trust." 

The  knights  went  back  to  the  fort  abashed,  and  ready 
to  die.  Still  the  15th  of  June  came  and  went,  and  no  sign 
of  the  Spanish  fleet.  On  the  16th  the  Turks  made  a  hot 
assault  on  the  fort,  their  ships  of  war  taking  part  by  firing 
from  their  big  guns;  the  fight  lasted  all  day,  and  so  many 
were  killed  that  the  ditch  was  filled  with  corpses.  But 
the  Christians  still  held  out,  and  the  flag  of  St.  John  still 
floated  from  the  flag-staff.  A  message  from  Sicily  said 
the  Spaniards  might  be  expected  on  the  22d. 

The  22d  came,  and  still  no  sign  of  the  Spanish  fleet. 
Then  the  Turks,  having  tightened  the  lines  round  the 
place,  charged  up  the  hill-side  once  more,  and  dashed 
at  every  opening  in  the  walls.  Once  more  they  were 
beaten  back.  But  when  night  came  the  knights  saw  that 
the  struggle  was  over.  The  grand-master  did  not  yield  a 
hair's  -  breadth,  but  the  ammunition  was  exhausted,  the 


1565]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  261 

soldiers'  weapons  broken,  their  walls  were  in  ruins,  and 
almost  every  man  so  badly  wounded  that  he  could  hardly 
crawl  along  the  ramparts.  They  spent  the  night  in  confes- 
sion and  prayer;  they  took  the  sacrament,  repeated  aloud 
the  vows  of  their  order,  and  waited  for  the  end. 

It  came  on  the  following  morning.  No  sign  of  the 
Spanish  fleet  showing  from  the  highlands,  the  Turks,  like 
a  great  wave  of  the  ocean,  swept  into  and  over  the  fort; 
every  living  creature  was  put  to  death,  save  only  nine  sol- 
diers who  surrendered  to  the  corsairs,  and  were  saved  to 
be  sold  as  slaves.  The  cross  of  St.  John  was  hauled  down, 
and  the  Moslem  crescent  waved  in  its  place. 

The  knights  still  held  the  fort  of  II  Borgo,  and  a  small- 
er work  at  La  Sangle,  and  the  grand-master  ordered  that 
these  should  be  defended  so  long  as  a  single  man  was  left 
to  handle  a  pike.  The  old  man  worked  himself  at  strength- 
ening the  defences,  though  he  had  been  wounded  in  the 
leg.  Upon  these  works  the  Turks  now  pointed  their  guns, 
and  battered  at  them  till  their  walls,  like  the  walls  of  St. 
Elmo,  were  crumbling  to  pieces.  On  July  15th  the  Turk- 
ish general  judged  that  they  were  sufficiently  breached, 
and  he  flung  his  troops  upon  them.  Again  the  little  gar- 
rison drove  them  back,  but  the  loss  was  heavy.  Grand- 
Master  Valette  sent  once  more  to  the  viceroy  of  Spain  in 
Sicily,  to  say  that  he  could  not  hold  out  much  longer.  The 
viceroy  answered  that  he  would  surely  come  with  an  army 
by  the  end  of  August. 

II  Borgo,  which  was  the  chief  point  of  attack,  was  in  a 
horrible  state.  The  men  were  worn  out,  and  many  of  them 
wounded.  Many  women  had  taken  the  places  of  their  hus- 
bands; some  of  them  lay  dead  in  the  streets  by  the  side  of 
the  men.  A  soldier  managed  to  escape  to  Sicily,  and  told 
the  people  there  what  was  happening  at  Malta.  It  would 
have  done  the  cowardly  and  treacherous  soul  of  Philip 
good  to  have  seen  the  frenzy  of  rage  which  broke  out 
among  the  warm-hearted  people  of  Sicily.  It  behooved 
his  viceroy  to  bestir  himself.  If  he  had  dallied  further, 


262  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIX  [1565 

the  people  would  have  seized  his  ships,  and  crossed  to 
Malta  on  their  own  account.  As  it  was,  his  fleet  sailed  at 
break  of  day  with  twelve  thousand  soldiers  on  board. 

When  the  ships,  flying  the  Spanish  flag  at  the  peak, 
were  seen  from  the  Christian  forts,  the  garrison  burst  out 
in  shouts  of  joy,  and  strong  men  sat  down  on  the  ground 
and  cried. 

That  night  the  Turks  silently  boarded  their  ships,  and 
with  the  first  glimmer  of  dawn  set  sail  homeward. 

And  so  Malta,  thanks  to  the  skill  and  gallantry  of  old 
Yalette,  after  whom  the  present  capital  of  the  island  was 
named,  and  to  the  courage  and  fortitude  of  the  Knights 
of  Malta,  was  saved  to  Christendom  for  all  time. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 
THE  MORISCOES 
A.D.  1566-1609 

You  remember  that  when  the  Moorish  empire  of  Gra- 
nada was  overthrown  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  the  Moors 
were  allowed  to  remain  in  Spain  on  condition  that  they 
would  be  baptized  as  Christians,  and  would  cease  to  hold 
religious  ceremonies  in  their  mosques.  They  accepted  these 
hard  terms  because  they  could  not  help  themselves,  but  in 
secret  they  remained  Moslems  as  before. 

The  Inquisition  was  not  ignorant  of  their  real  sentiments, 
and  constantly  urged  the  king  to  adopt  more  stringent 
measures  with  the  infidel.  Charles  did  at  one  time  draw 
up  an  edict  for  the  purpose,  but  he  refused  to  let  it  be  car- 
ried out.  When  Cardinal  Espinosa  became  minister  of 
Philip  the  Second  the  clergy  were  more  successful.  A 
royal  edict  commanded  the  Moriscoes,  as  the  Moors  were 
now  called,  to  stop  using  their  own  Arabic  tongue,  and  to 
speak  and  write  nothing  but  Spanish;  to  change  their 
names  for  Spanish  names;  to  give  up  their  own  dress,  and 
dress  like  Spaniards;  to  cease  bathing;  to  stop  singing 
Moorish  songs  and  dancing  Moorish  dances.  More  cruel 
than  anything,  the  Morisco  women  were  forbidden  to  cover 
their  faces  in  public,  though  in  all  Moorish  countries  it 
was  and  is  still  considered  immodest  for  a  woman  to  ap- 
pear in  public  with  her  face  uncovered.  The  ordinance 
was  published  on  November  17th,  1566. 

You  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  the  whole  Moris- 
co people  declared  that  they  would  rather  die  than  sub- 
mit. They  armed  themselves,  and  prepared  for  resistance. 
King  Philip  had  to  send  an  army  into  Granada,  and  the  old 
war  beaan  asrain. 


264  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1566-160(.» 

It  lasted  several  years,  and,  like  all  wars  for  race  and  re- 
ligion, was  carried  on  savagely  on  both  sides.  When  the 
Moriscoes  swooped  down  on  a  Spanish  village  they  spared 
no  one;  when  the  Spaniards  captured  a  Moorish  fort  or 
town  every  Morisco,  young  or  old,  male  or  female,  was 
put  to  the  sword.  In  one  town,  which  the  Spaniards  took 
after  a  siege,  the  gutters  ran  with  blood  as  they  run  with 
water  after  a  rain-storm. 

But,  as  you  may  imagine,  the  parties  to  the  contest  were 
too  unequal  for  it  to  last  long.  There  were  not  Moriscoes 
enough  to  resist  the  power  of  Spain.  They  fought  gal- 
lantly; and  their  leaders,  Aben-Yumeya  and  Aben-Aboo, 
did  wonders  with  their  little  force;  but  when  John  of 
Austria  was  sent  to  the  seat  of  war  with  a  considerable 
army  the  Moriscoes  were  crushed. 

The  king  then  scattered  the  surviving  Moriscoes  through 
Spain.  Granada  was  emptied  of  them.  Every  day  a  car- 
avan of  men,  women,  and  children  was  started  for  some 
distant  place  in  Castile  or  Estrernadura  or  Valencia  or  the 
North  ;  and  as  it  was  nobody's  business  to  see  that  they 
were  not  driven  too  fast  or  were  fed  on  the  way,  numbers 
of  them  died  on  the  journey  from  fatigue  and  hunger. 
After  a  time  the  rest  were  settled  in  new  homes  among 
strangers. 

I  confess  I  am  not  as  sorry  as  perhaps  I  should  be  that  the 
exile  of  the  Moriscoes  from  Granada  desolated  that  beau- 
tiful city.  Nearly  all  the  mechanics  and  gardeners  had 
been  Moriscoes  ;  when  they  were  gone,  there  were  no  car- 
penters or  masons  or  painters  or  smiths  or  florists  in  the 
place.  Neither  houses  nor  tools  could  be  mended,  and  the 
beautiful  pleasure-grounds,  which  had  been  the  pride  of  the 
city,  became  wildernesses  of  weeds. 

Nor  did  the  Inquisition  find  that  the  dispersion  of  the  Mo- 
riscoes put  an  end  to  secret  heresy,  as  it  had  reckoned  it 
would.  The  little  Morisco  colonies  scattered  here  and 
there  clung  all  the  more  closely  to  each  other,  and  to  their 
faith  and  their  customs;  the  country  priests  reported  that 


156&-1609]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  265 

they  still  washed  the  holy  water  off  their  children's  faces 
after  baptism,  and  still  talked  in  Arabic  to  each  other 
when  they  were  alone.  It  was  found  that  wherever  they 
went  their  industry  and  their  skill  enabled  them  to  excel 
the  lazy  fighting  Spaniards  in  farming  and  handicraft. 
Whereupon  the  Spaniards  began  to  chorus  with  the  priests 
that  the  Moors  must  go. 

Nothing  came  of  the  cry  in  the  time  of  Philip  the  Sec- 
ond. But  when  his  son,  Philip  the  Third,  came  to  the 
throne,  the  clergy  renewed  their  efforts.  Archbishop 
Ribera  of  Valencia  never  ceased  to  worry  the  king,  saying 
that  there  would  never  be  pure  religion  in  Spain,  and  the  na- 
tive Spaniard  would  never  be  able  to  make  a  living,  so  long 
as  the  Moors  remained.  The  Archbishop  of  Toledo  agreed 
with  him,  and  thought  the  best  way  to  deal  with  the  Mo- 
riscoes  was  to  kill  them  all,  especially  the  young  children, 
in  order  to  prevent  their  intermarrying  with  Spaniards. 
Ribera  and  the  king  rather  objected  to  this,  as  being  too 
much  in  the  style  of  King  Herod  of  Judea. 

An  appeal  was  taken  to  the  pope,  who  expressed  a  view 
which  rather  surprised  the  archbishops.  His  holiness 
said  that  if  Ribera  and  the  other  priests  had  done  their 
duty,  they  would  have  converted  the  Moriscoes  long  ago, 
and  that  the  idea  of  killing  or  exiling  them  was  unchris- 
tian. The  archbishops  had  to  wait. 

But  the  dull  Spanish  farmers  and  workmen,  who  saw  the 
Moriscoes  making  a  living  where  they  starved,  kept  harp- 
ing on  the  necessity  of  driving  them  out,  and,  in  an  evil 
day,  Philip  the  Third  consented.  On  September  9th,  1609, 
an  edict  was  published  requiring  all  Moriscoes  to  be  in 
readiness  to  be  carried  to  Africa  in  three  days. 
.  The  edict  was  carried  out  to  the  letter,  in  spite  of  oppo- 
sition from  the  nobles  of  Valencia,  who  knew  the  value  of 
Morisco  labor,  and  parted  reluctantly  with  the  best  field- 
hands  and  workmen  they  had.  About  one  million  people,  the 
most  useful  inhabitants  of  Spain,  were  put  on  ship  by  force 
of  arms,  and  transported  to  Africa.  Some  of  the  vessels  were 


266 


A    CHILD  S    HISTORY    OF    SPAIX 


[1566-1609 


wrecked  on  the  way,  and  the  passengers  perished.  Other 
passengers  were  murdered  by  their  guards,  and  their 
wives  and  daughters  taken  as  slaves.  The  property  of  all 
was  taken  from  them  to  defray  the  expense  of  their  removal. 


IRRIGATING  NEAR  ALICANTE 

What  a  blow  this  inflicted  on  Spain  I  cannot  describe. 
The  great  mass  of  the  Spanish  people  understood  war  and 
nothing  else.  All  works  of  drainage  and  high  farming 
were  conducted  by  the  Moriscoes.  They  carried  on  the 
factories  and  sugar-mills.  They  managed  the  rice  planta- 
tions. They  cultivated  the  vineyards  and  the  orchards. 
When  they  were  gone,  all  the  sources  of  wealth  dried  up. 


1566-1609]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  267 

A  few  children  of  both  sexes  were  stolen  at  the  last  mo- 
ment by  priests,  who  proposed  to  educate  them  as  Chris- 
tians, and  a  few  nobles  in  Valencia  obtained  permission 
from  the  king  to  keep  six  out  of  every  hundred  Moriscoes 
to  teach  the  natives  how  to  farm  their  estates.  With 
these  exceptions  the  whole  race  was  driven  out  of  Spain  to 
lose  itself  among  the  savage  races  of  northern  Africa. 


CHAPTER  XL 

SPAIN  UNDER  PHILIP  THE  SECOND 
A.D.  1560-1598 

SPAIN  was  never  richer  or  more  powerful  than  in  the 
early  part  of  the  reign  of  Philip  the  Second.  The  Moors 
and  Moriscoes  prosecuted  their  industries,  and  some  of  the 
Spaniards  had  learned  lessons  in  farming  from  the  infidels. 
Great  quantities  of  silver  and  some  gold  came  in  every 
year  from  the  "New  World ;  I  am  not  very  sure  that  they 
were  a  source  of  wealth.  To  get  the  silver  and  gold, 
Spain  had  to  send  a  fleet  of  galleys  across  the  ocean,  and 
to  keep  numbers  of  Spaniards  in  Mexico,  Peru,  and  the 
islands.  The  ship -builders  and  sailors  and  soldiers  and 
adventurers  had  to  be  supported,  and  I  am  not  certain 
that  after  their  cost  was  deducted  from  the  value  of  the 
silver  and  gold  there  was  much  profit  left.  You  know  that 
if  it  costs  you  a  hundred  and  two  cents  of  labor  to  get  a 
dollar's  worth  of  silver  you  are  not  growing  rich  at  the 
business. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  wealth  among  the  clergy  and 
the  nobles.  The  former  owned  about  half  the  fertile  land 
of  Spain.  The  income  of  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  who 
was  called  the  primate  of  Spain,  had  increased  to  about 
two  hundred  thousand  ducats  a  year,  which  is  equal  to 
nearly  a  million  dollars  of  our  money.  The  Archbishop 
of  Seville  had  about  half  as  much,  and  all  over  Spain  the 
archbishops,  bishops,  abbots,  priors,  and  even  the  common 
priests,  were  wealthy.  As  they  paid  no  taxes,  could  not 
sell  their  land,  and  impressed  upon  every  dying  man  that 
it  was  his  duty  to  give  something  to  the  Church,  their 
riches  grew  like  a  snowball  that  rolls  downhill. 


1560-1598] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN 


269 


Next  to  the  clergy,  the  nobles  were  the  richest  people 
in  the  country.     There  were  twenty -three  dukes,  each  of 


A  GARLIC   SELLER 


whom  enjoyed  an  income  nearly  equal  to  three  or  four  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  a  year  of  our  money,  and  counts  and 
barons  and  knights  past  counting.  These  grandees  spent 


270  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1560-1 59s 

most  of  their  time  on  their  estates,  which  were  sometimes 
so  vast  as  to  include  several  towns,  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  acres  of  good  land.  Their  castles  were  full  of  retainers, 
major-domos,  equerries,  hidalgoes,  cavaliers,  pages,  men-at- 
arms,  and  what  not.  They  led  lives  of  splendor  and  pomp; 
but  they  rarely  did  anything  useful,  and  I  am  afraid  that 
some  of  them  could  not  read  or  write.  In  the  winter  they 
lived  in  town-houses  in  Madrid,  where  they  gambled  with 
each  other,  and  the  young  people  made  love  ;  but  I  do  not 
find  much  mention  of  them  either  in  the  army  or  in  the 
offices  of  state.  They  paid  no  taxes,  however,  and  I  dare 
say  they  were  satisfied  with  their  station  in  life. 

It  was  the  business  of  the  people  who  were  neither 
priests  nor  nobles  to  find  money  to  support  the  court,  and 
to  carry  on  the  wars  which  Philip  was  always  conducting 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  And  towards  the  close  of 
Philip's  reign  they  were  in  no  condition  to  bear  the  ex- 
pense. The  people  at  large  had  grown  poor — very  poor. 
Great  tracts  of  land  which  had  once  been  highly  pro- 
ductive lay  waste  because,  under  the  ignorant  system  of 
farming  which  the  Spanish  peasants  followed,  their  crops 
barely  sold  for  enough  to  pay  the  king's  taxes.  Religious 
persecution  and  race  prejudice  had  thinned  out  the  people 
and  crippled  business.  Mechanics  complained  that  they 
could  not  get  work.  Beggars  swarmed  on  the  highways. 
In  cities  which  had  been  hives  of  industry,  the  common 
people  did  not  know  from  day  to  day  where  they  would 
get  their  bread  on  the  morrow.  With  all  his  rigor,  the 
king  could  not  screw  out  of  the  people  enough  money  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  government.  He  was  always  borrow- 
ing, and  he  rarely  paid  his  debts. 

He  did  not  always  pay  his  soldiers,  and  they  robbed 
their  way  through  Spain  when  they  were  on  the  march. 
When  a  regiment  passed  through  a  village,  the  villagers 
often  left  their  houses  and  ran  to  the  mountains  to  avoid 
what  might  be  worse  than  robbery. 

All  through  the  reign  of  Philip,  representatives  of  the 


1560-1598] 


A    CHILD  S    HISTORY  OP    SPAIN 


271 


people  met  in  a  Cortes.  The  kings  had  at  first  agreed 
that  no  tax  should  be  levied  without  the  consent  of  the 
Cortes,  and  that  they  should  make  the  laws.  But  Philip 


COFFINS  OF  THE  KINGS,   IN   THE   ESCURIAL 

changed  all  this  ;  he  took  away  from  the  Cortes  the  right 
of  making  laws  and  levying  taxes.  When  the  Cortes  re- 
monstrated, he  replied  that  he  would  see  about  it.  Had 
they  not  the  right  to  petition  ? 


272  A  CHILD'S  HISTOHY  OF  SPAIX  [1560-1598 

They  did  petition,  and  some  of  their  petitions  were  queer. 
They  asked  that  the  common  people  should  be  made  to 
dress  and  live  plainly;  that  no  woman  should  wear  finery  ; 
that  men  should  not  have  fringe  on  their  coats,  and  should 
not  wear  starched  shirts.  This  petition  the  king  granted. 
They  asked  that  no  one  should  have  more  than  four  dishes 
of  meat  and  four  dishes  of  fruit  at  one  meal.  This  he  also 
granted.  He  also  agreed  that  common  people  should  not 
ride  in  coaches;  that  towns  should  keep  an  inn  open  for 
travellers;  that  women  should  not  read  novels;  that  boys 
should  get  their  schooling  at  home  and  not  abroad,  and 
that  no  more  dolls  or  pocket-knives  should  be  imported 
from  France;  but  when  the  Cortes  petitioned  the  king  to 
put  a  stop  to  the  growth  of  the  estates  of  the  Church  he 
hesitated ;  and  when  they  said  that  in  so  poor  a  country  as 
Spain  had  become  the  king  ought  to  be  able  to  get  along 
without  a  household  of  fifteen  hundred  persons,  besides 
three  hundred  guards,  and  twenty-six  ladies  in  waiting  and 
four  doctors  for  his  wife,  he  smiled,  and  said  he  would 
think  about  it. 

I  suppose  there  never  was  a  kingdom  in  which  the  peo- 
ple were  so  near  starvation  while  the  king  was  lavishing 
money  on  useless  objects  as  was  Spain  under  the  last  years 
of  Philip  the  Second. 

Several  of  the  great  cities  of  Spain — Cordova,  Toledo, 
Seville,  Granada,  Valladolid — had  in  turn  served  as  the 
capital  city.  Philip  chose  as  his  capital  the  city  of  Ma- 
drid, which  is  the  chief  city  to  this  day.  It  is  a  cold, 
windy  place  on  a  bleak  plain,  where  it  rains  nearly  all 
winter. 

Twenty -four  miles  from  the  city,  in  the  mountains,  he 
erected  a  queer  assemblage  of  buildings  which  he  called  the 
Escurial.  It  contained  a  palace,  a  monastery,  and  a  burial 
vault.  The  outer  wall  is  half  a  mile  long.  Thirty-two 
years  were  spent  in  building,  and  the  cost  was  about  six 
million  dollars.  All  said  and  done — the  Spaniards  thought 
it  was  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world — it  was  and  is  a 


.•;/x/ 

/,  '•     ''  / 

///  //  -    . 
///  // 
///  I /      \,^\ 

i///    /  /      &,  \  //% 

if/7  ,;  /     f\i 

[/    /.  yf 

• 


r  rf  ^Sw 


THE  TOMB  OF   PniLIP  THE   SECOND   AT  THE  E8CURIAL 


1560-1598]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  275 

gloomy,  cold,  dreary,  and  desolate  pile.  In  Philip's  time 
it  was  filled  with  fine  statues,  beautiful  paintings  from 
Italy,  gorgeous  tapestries,  which  were  the  work  of  the 
Moors,  and  relics  without  number ;  sixty  fountains  spurted 
jets  of  water  into  the  air,  and  magnificent  arches  and 
doorways  were  met  at  every  turn.  It  was  long  ago 
stripped  of  everything  that  made  it  glorious  ;  it  is  now  a 
mere  tomb,  in  which  the  bones  of  Charles  the  First  and 
Philip  and  a  few  members  of  their  family  rest.  When 
you  go  to  see  it  you  will  be  oppressed  by  low  spirits  which 
you  cannot  shake  off. 

It  was  to  this  dark  and  sad  home  that  Philip  brought 
his  fourth  and  last  wife,  Anne  of  Austria.  She  was  young, 
beautiful,  and  gay  ;  she  loved  music  and  dancing  and 
frolic  ;  she  tried  to  surround  herself  with  people  of  her 
own  age  and  her  own  temper,  who  could  laugh  and  be 
merry.  The  gloomy  shades  of  the  Escurial  were  far  better 
suited  to  the  bilious  old  king  whose  wife  she  had  become 
than  to  her ;  I  think  the  poor  little  queen  must  have  been 
rejoiced  when  she  could  run  away  from  the  palace  and 
spend  an  afternoon  in  the  quiet  parlor  in  the  house  of  one 
of  her  friends. 

This  place  suited  him  exactly.  He  loved  to  sit  in  the 
dark  and  brood  over  his  cares.  They  were  many  and 
grave.  He  had  fitted  out  a  great  armada  to  conquer  Eng- 
land ;  it  comprised  the  finest  galleys  in  the  navy,  and  con- 
tained the  best  troops  in  the  service  ;  but  the  English, 
with  a  far  smaller  fleet,  had  captured  and  sunk  many  of 
his  ships,  and  the  rest  had  been  scattered  by  storms.  Only 
a  small  part  of  the  grand  armada  ever  got  back  to  Spain. 

For  twenty  years  Philip  had  been  a  victim  to  gout,  and 
when  he  was  sixty-nine  other  diseases  attacked  him.  He 
became  so  weak  that  he  had  to  be  carried  about  in  an 
arm-chair.  His  thirst  was  unquenchable,  and  the  doctors 
forbade  him  to  drink.  After  enduring  these  sufferings 
for  many  months  at  Madrid,  he  had  himself  carried  to  the 
Escurial  in  June,  1598.  He  was  in  such  agony  that  it  took 


276  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1560-1598 

him  six  days  to  travel  the  twenty-four  miles.  When  he 
arrived,  he  was  cheered  up  by  a  consignment  of  relics  from 
Germany,  and  he  had  himself  carried  round  in  his  chair, 
pointing  out  where  they  should  be  set. 

Tumors  and  boils  broke  out  all  over  his  body,  and  the 
least  touch  gave  him  more  exquisite  pain  than  he  had  ever 
inflicted  on  heretics.  For  fifty-three  days  he  could  not  be 
moved  nor  have  his  shirt  changed.  But  his  mind  re- 
mained active.  He  gave  his  son  advice  how  to  conduct 
the  government,  and  talked  freely  on  religion  to  the 
priests.  He  had  his  father's  coffin  opened,  and  the  crucifix 
which  had  been  held  before  him  when  he  died  fastened 
to  the  foot  of  his  bed ;  he  also  had  his  own  coffin  placed 
beside  the  bed. 

When  he  was  told  that  his  hour  had  come,  he  was  quite 
calm,  confessed,  and  received  communion.  So,  with  his 
family  and  a  number  of  churchmen  round  him,  he  passed 
away  on  September  13th,  1598. 


CHAPTER  XLI 

TWO  MORE  PHILIPS 

A.D.  1598-1665 

PHILIP  THE  SECOND  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Philip  the 
Third,  who  was  twenty-one  when  he  came  to  the  throne. 
He  was  a  weak,  submissive  creature,  who  never  had  a  mind 
of  his  own.  His  father  decided  that  for  reasons  of  state 
he  should  marry  a  daughter  of  the  Archduke  Charles.  As 
there  were  several  of  them,  the  king  showed  his  son  the 
portraits  of  all,  and  bade  him  choose  which  he  would  take 
for  his  wife. 

"Whichever  you  please,  papa,"  was  the  dutiful  reply  ; 
and  he  did  accordingly  marry  Margaret.  The  marriage 
took  place  at  Valencia,  and  cost  a  million  ducats,  besides 
presents  to  foreign  ambassadors,  though  Spain  was  in  the 
direst  poverty. 

Philip  was  too  feeble  and  too  lazy  to  carry  on  his  gov- 
ernment. That  business  he  left  to  his  favorite,  an  equerry 
named  Denia,  whom  he  created  a  duke,  and  whom  the 
pope  made  a  cardinal,  though  he  had  never  been  a  priest. 
This  cardinal-duke  knew  so  little  about  governing  that 
when  money  ran  short  in  the  royal  treasury  he  coined 
copper  pieces,  and  forced  people  to  take  them  at  the  value 
of  silver  coins  of  the  same  size.  He  laid  taxes  on  every- 
thing, but  they  yielded  nothing,  because  business  was 
dead.  The  Spaniards  ceased  to  make  linen  or  woollen 
cloths  for  wearing  apparel,  or  paper  to  write  on,  or  spades 
to  dig  with  ;  all  these  things  came  from  abroad. 

One  thing  alone  prospered — that  was  the  Church.  There 
were  more  priests  than  ever,  and  more  churches.  The  cardi- 
nal founded  five  new  monasteries  and  two  new  churches  ; 


280 


A    CHILD  S    HISTORY    OP   SPAIN 


[1598-1665 


in  the  cathedral  at  Seville  one  hundred  priests  officiated, 
though  six  could  have  done  the  work.  Almost  every 
family  had  one  son  or  daughter  in  the  Church  ;  the  other 
sons  and  daughters  became  servants  in  rich  men's  houses, 
or  beggars  or  thieves.  The  king  himself  was  so  well 
aware  how  good  a  thing  it  was  to  belong  to  the  Church 


THE   VILLAGE   CURATE 

that  he  got  the  pope  to  make  his  ten-year-old  son  a  cardi- 
nal, and  then  created  him  Archbishop  of  Toledo.  He,  at 
all  events,  was  sure  not  to  come  to  want. 

The  only  event  of  public  importance  which  took  place 
in  the  reign  of  Philip  the  Third  was  the  acknowledgment 
by  Spain  of  the  independence  of  the  Low  Countries  in  the 
year  1609.  This  enraged  the  Spaniards,  and  made  the 
cardinal-duke  unpopular.  He  had  lately  picked  up  the  son 


1598-1665]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  281 

of  a  common  soldier,  named  Calderon,  and  raised  him  to 
such  power  that  he  was  called  the  favorite's  favorite.  At 
last  the  people's  patience  was  worn  out,  and  they  rose  in 
rebellion,  drove  the  cardinal -duke  into  retirement,  and 
locked  up  Calderon  in  jail.  One  day,  when  they  were 
particularly  hungry,  they  took  him  out  of  jail  and  mur- 
dered him. 

After  this  Philip  grew  tired  of  playing  king.  He  was  in 
poor  health,  and  the  general  poverty  which  he  saw  round 
him  threw  him  into  low  spirits.  His  royal  income  was  far 
less  than  that  of  his  father.  He  did  not  see  how  matters 
could  be  mended.  So,  when  a  serious  disease  attacked 
him,  he  hardly  struggled  against  it;,  beyond  ordering  a 
statue  of  the  Holy  Virgin  of  Antioch  to  be  carried  through 
the  streets  of  Madrid  in  a  solemn  procession,  he  made  no 
effort  to  cure  himself.  He  took  leave  of  his  family  with 
many  words  of  affection,  and  bemoaned  the  mistakes  of  his 
kingly  career,  saying  that  he  would  act  differently  now  if 
he  were  spared.  But  he  did  not  have  the  chance.  He  died 
peacefully  on  March  31st,  1621. 

His  successor  was  his  son,  who  is  known  as  Philip  the 
Fourth.  He  was  sixteen  when  he  came  to  the  throne,  and 
lived  forty-four  years  afterwards.  But  in  all  that  time  he 
never  did  anything  by  which  he  is  remembered,  except  that 
he  led  an  idle,  dissolute  life  with  vile  women  and  viler  men. 
The  business  of  governing  Spain  he  left  to  a  count-duke 
named  Olivarez,  who  had  a  hankering  for  war  and  glory, 
and  a  habit  of  getting  the  worst  of  every  quarrel  in 
which  he  engaged.  To  wage  successful  war  money  is  as 
necessary  as  men,  and  Olivarez  had  none,  though  he  under- 
took wars  in  the  Low  Countries,  in  Germany,  in  Italy,  as 
well  as  at  home. 

One  of  the  consequences  of  his  folly  was  an  uprising  in 
Catalonia,  in  which  the  royal  governor  was  killed,  the 
royal  troops  expelled,  and  Spain  set  at  defiance  for  thir- 
teen years. 

To  put  down  the  Catalans,  Olivarez  ordered  Portugal  to 


282 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN 


[1598-1665 


furnish  him  with  an  army.  Portugal  had  been  annexed 
to  Spain  by  Philip  the  Second,  and  had  not  taken  kindly 
to  Spanish  dominion.  It  raised  the  army,  but  when  it  was 
armed  and  equipped,  the  Portuguese  nobles,  under  the 
lead  of  a  gallant  woman,  the  Duchess  of  Braganza  —  she 


DOING   PENANCE 

was  of  the  Medina -Sidonia  family  of  Spain — asked  each 
other  why  it  should  not  be  used  against  Spain  ?  Portugal 
was  governed  at  the  time  by  a  woman,  Margaret,  grand- 
daughter of  Philip  the  Second,  who  was  called  Vice- 
Queen.  When  the  insurgents  began  business  by  killing 


1598-1665]  A    CHILD'S    HISTORY    OP   SPAIN  283 

her  secretary,  she  met  them  with  intrepid  words,  declaring 
that  she  would  overlook  a  trifle  of  that  kind,  but  that  the 
people  must  lay  down  their  arms,  or  she  would  not  beg 
their  pardon  from  the  king. 

The  leader  of  the  insurgents  said  they  wanted  no  pardon. 
And  leading  Margaret  into  a  room,  he  forced  her  to  sign 
orders  for  the  surrender  of  all  the  fortresses  which  the 
Spaniards  held;  which  done,  he  quietly  took  possession 
of  all  of  them,  and  that  night  Lisbon  was  as  quiet  as  if 
nothing  had  happened;  the  Duke  of  Braganza  was  pro- 
claimed King  of  Portugal,  the  shops  were  all  open,  and 
the  Spaniards  were  carrying  their  knapsacks  over  the  bor- 
der into  Spain. 

Under  the  long  reign  of  Philip  the  Fourth  the  decay  of 
the  nation  and  the  growth  of  the  Church  kept  pace  with 
each  other.  More  than  once  the  Cortes  renewed  their  pro- 
test against  the  increase  of  Church  property,  and  the  king 
promised  to  check  it.  But  he  made  no  effort  to  do  any- 
thing of  the  kind.  Meanwhile  he  increased  the  taxes  on 
meat,  wine,  oil,  and  vinegar.  People  were  driven  out  of 
Spain  by  these  taxes.  Toledo  lost  one-third  of  its  people, 
Segovia,  Burgos,  and  La  Mancha  nine-tenths,  Granada 
nearly  one -half,  Seville  one -half,  including  nearly  all  its 
rich  manufacturers. 

The  prevailing  discontent  induced  Philip  to  dismiss 
Olivarez,  but  as  he  put  his  nephew  in  his  place  there  was 
not  much  gained  by  the  change.  The  wretched  king, 
whose  soul  was  wrapped  up  in  his  dissolute  pleasures,  felt 
each  new  piece  of  bad  news  as  a  shock ;  when  he  was  told 
of  the  coronation  of  King  John  of  Portugal,  he  cried,  "It 
is  the  will  of  God,"  and  fainted  away.  He  died  shortly 
afterwards,  in  1665,  which  was  the  best  thing  he  could  do. 

You  may  perhaps  be  surprised  to  hear  that  these  dark 
years  of  misery  and  decay  for  the  Spanish  nation  were  the 
Golden  Age  of  Spanish  letters  and  art.  Never  till  our  own 
time  did  Spain  produce  so  many  writers  and  painters  as  it 
did  during  the  reign  of  the  three  Philips. 


284  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1598-1665 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Cervantes  wrote  his  Don 
Quixote,  which  has  been  the  delight  of  the  reading  world 
for  two  centuries,  and  which  you  can  enjoy  to-day  with 
the  same  pleasure  it  inspired  when  it  was  first  written.  It 
is  told  of  the  third  Philip  that,  seeing  a  student  walking 
the  street  and  laughing  to  split  his  sides  as  he  read  a  book, 
he  observed :  "  That  fellow  is  either  mad  or  is  reading 
Don  Quixote" 

As  famous  as  Cervantes  was  Lope  de  Vega,  who  wrote 
eighteen  hundred  plays,  and  many  other  works  of  prose 
and  poetry.  His  plays  were  a  mine  from  which  French, 
English  and  Italian  authors  stole  some  of  their  best  pieces. 

Among  the  poets  of  that  day,  whose  writings  you  will 
enjoy  if  you  learn  Spanish,  are  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  who 
wrote  pastoral  poetry ;  Calderon  de  la  Barca,  who  entered 
the  Church  probably  to  make  sure  of  bread ;  and  Luis  de 
Leon,  who  wrote  beautiful  religious  poetry  while  he  was  a 
prisoner  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition.  Among  his- 
torians you  would  like  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  Bernal  Diaz, 
Las  Casas,  Ovido,  and  Gomara,  from  whose  writings  we 
learn  all  that  we  know  about  the  Spanish  conquests  in 
America.  Until  the  reign  of  Charles  the  First  there  was 
hardly  any  literature  in  Spain. 

At  the  very  time  these  gifted  men  wrote,  Murillo,  Velas- 
quez, and  Ribera  painted  such  works  of  art  that  the 
Spanish  school  took  rank  with  the  schools  of  Italy.  Their 
paintings  are  still  the  admiration  of  lovers  of  art.  It  can- 
not be  easily  explained  why  these  men  of  genius  sud- 
denly appeared  in  a  cluster  just  at  the  time  when  the 
fortunes  of  Spain  had  begun  to  decline,  and  why,  after  a 
course  like  that  of  a  meteor  they  vanished,  leaving  no 
successors. 


CHAPTER  XLII 

CHARLES   THE   SECOND 

A.D.  1665-1700 

THE  next  king  in  order  was  Charles  the  Second,  who  was 
three  years  old  when  he  came  to  the  throne.  During  his 
minority  his  mother  was  regent  ;  and  she  took  as  her 
adviser  the  grand -inquisitor,  a  German  Jesuit  named 
Nitard,  whom  the  people  hated.  They  thought  the  right 
man  to  be  at  the  head  of  affairs  during  the  king's  child- 
hood was  his  half-brother  Don  Juan,  whose  mother  was  an 
actress.  Of  this  Don  Juan  his  father,  Philip  the  Fourth, 
had  thought  a  good  deal,  had  made  him  prior  of  an  abbey 
and  general  of  an  army  ;  but  the  queen-regent  disliked 
him,  and  between  him  and  the  Jesuit  Nitard  it  was  war  to 
the  knife. 

After  much  effort  Don  Juan  succeeded  in  rousing  the 
sleepy  Spanish  nobles,  and  getting  them  to  follow  him  to 
the  queen -regent  to  demand  the  expulsion  of  Nitard. 
Said  the  queen  : 

"Very  well,  let  him  go." 

And  she  got  the  pope  to  make  him  a  cardinal,  and  put 
in  his  place  a  pretty  boy  from  Granada,  whose  name  was 
Valenzuelo,  and  whose  calling  was  that  of  a  page.  As 
you  may  imagine,  neither  Don  Juan  nor  the  Spanish 
nobles  thought  that  a  page  was  much  of  an  improvement 
on  a  Jesuit  as  a  royal  favorite  ;  they  laid  plots  against 
Valenzuelo  as  they  had  against  Nitard,  and  when  King 
Charles  came  of  age,  at  fourteen,  they  persuaded  him  to 
appoint  his  brother,  Don  Juan,  prime-minister.  The  pretty 
boy  had  just  time  to  make  his  escape  to  the  monastery  of 
the  Escurial. 


286  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1665-1700 

Don  Juan  was  hot  after  him  with  a  party  of  troopers. 
They  tracked  him  to  the  monastery.  He  had  crawled  be- 
hind the  wainscot  of  an  empty  room,  but  after  lying  hid 
there  for  several  hours,  while  he  could  hear  the  troopers 
tramping  round  with  their  big  boots  and  clattering  with 
their  swords  and  spurs,  the  closeness  of  the  air  overcame 
him,  he  lost  consciousness,  and  when  Don  Juan  came  up 
he  found  the  man  he  was  hunting  in  a  dead  faint.  They 
sent  for  the  barber,  and  had  him  bled,  which  brought 
him  to.  After  which  they  packed  him  off  to  the  Phi- 
lippine Isles,  bidding  him  never  more  show  his  face  in 
Spain. 

Then  Charles  became  king  in  name,  his  brother,  Don 
Juan,  king  in  reality,  and  the  queen-regent  nobody.  This 
did  not  last  very  long.  A  whisper  crept  round  that  the 
king  wasn't  quite  right  in  his  mind.  To  set  him  right, 
everybody  said  that  the  thing  to  do  was  to  get  him  a 
wife;  so  they  married  him  to  pretty  Marie  Louise  of 
France.  I  do  not  know  why  Don  Juan  should  have  ob- 
jected to  the  marriage,  but  he  did,  and  when  it  was  cele- 
brated in  spite  of  him,  he  went  home  and  died,  and  the 
old  queen-mother  returned  to  court.  Meanwhile  the  king 
was  certainly  very  queer,  so  queer  that  his  loving  wife 
Marie  Louise  couldn't  make  him  out,  and  worried  herself 
into  a  consumption  of  which  she  died. 

People  then  said  that  his  queerness  arose  from  his  hav- 
ing married  the  wrong  woman,  and  they  married  him 
again  —  this  time  to  an  Austrian  princess.  But  the  Aus- 
trian could  not  understand  her  husband  any  better  than 
the  Frenchwoman  had;  she  had  no  children,  and  she 
brooded  and  fretted  and  cried  a  good  deal. 

The  trouble  with  the  king  was  that  he  believed  he  was  be- 
witched, or  possessed  of  a  devil.  In  those  old  days,  you 
know,  people  generally  believed  in  witchcraft  and  devils ; 
I  think  I  have  heard  of  the  hanging  of  some  witches  in 
Massachusetts.  King  Charles  was  satisfied  that  there  was 
a  devil  inside  him  which  gave  him  excruciating  pain,  and 


1665-1700]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  289 

put  all  sorts  of  wrong  thoughts  into  his  head.  If  he  had 
been  a  common  man,  I  think  the  Inquisition  would  have 
treated  his  case  with  a  little  torture  and  a  warm  fire  at  a 
stake.  As  he  was  a  king,  the  priests  tried  to  exorcise  him 
with  holy  water,  relics,  and  powerful  preaching. 

The  poor  sick  man  was  set  on  a  stool,  and  a  loud-voiced 
monk  hectored  and  bullied  him,  crying  : 

"  Come  out,  Beelzebub !  avaunt,  Sathanas.  Aha !  'Tis 
thou,  Nebul !  Come  out,  thou  villain  Abaddon  !  Ha ! 
Belial,  thou  knave !  Thou  canst  hear  the  sound  of  my 
voice,  eh?  I  exorcise  thee !  Get  thee  behind  me  !" 

While  he  thus  roared,  the  monk  would  splash  the  king's 
face  with  holy  water,  and  shake  him  violently  as  though 
there  was  really  some  creature  inside  his  body  who  had  to 
be  shaken  out  of  his  mouth.  You  will  be  less  surprised 
than  the  monks  were  that  these  remedies  did  not  do  the 
king  the  least  good,  but,  on  the  contrary,  made  him  more 
nervous  and  depressed  in  spirit  than  ever.  Finally,  it  was 
determined  to  adopt  still  stronger  measures. 

In  the  vault  of  the  Escurial  lay  the  bodies  of  Charles's 
ancestors,  as  far  back  as  the  first  of  his  name.  He  went 
down  into  the  dark  and  damp  chamber  of  death,  where 
the  great  black  crucifix  stood,  where  spiders  built  their 
webs,  and  bats  flew  whirring  from  air-hole  to  air-hole,  and 
he  ordered  the  covers  of  the  coffins  to  be  unscrewed.  Then 
he  gazed  long  and  earnestly  at  the  faces  of  the  dead,  some 
of  which  were  falling  into  dust,  while  others  were  still 
fresh  as  if  they  had  died  but  yesterday.  When  he  came 
to  the  coffin  of  his  first  wife,  Marie  Louise,  whom  he  had 
really  loved,  he  noticed  that  her  face  was  mild  and  tran- 
quil. Overcome  by  the  sight,  he  shrieked  : 

"  Marie  Louise,  I  will  soon  be  with  thee." 

And  he  rushed  out  of  the  vault  into  the  open  air,  quite 
mad.  A  few  days  afterwards  he  died. 

In  his  reign  Spain  had  sunk  into  a  shocking  condition. 
Every  business  had  been  ruined  except  religion.  When 
Philip  the  Second  came  to  the  tnrone  there  were  sixty 
19 


290 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN 


[1665-1700 


thousand  looms  running  at  Seville.  In  the  time  of  Charles 
the  Second  there  were  but  three  hundred.  Under  Philip 
the  Second,  Toledo  had  fifty  woollen  factories ;  under 
Charles  the  Second,  there  were  but  thirteen,  the  Moris- 


COURT  OP   THE  EVANGELISTS,  IN  THE  ESCURIAL 

coes  having  transferred  the  business  to  Tunis,  in  Africa; 
under  Philip  the  Second,  everybody  all  through  Europe 
wore  Spanish  gloves;  under  Charles  the  Second,  no 
gloves  were  made  in  Spain.  At  Burgos  and  Segovia  the 
streets  were  deserted,  and  most  of  the  houses  empty. 

At  Madrid  and  in  the  neighborhood  people  starved.    At 
the  convent  doors  the  monks  furnished  a  bowl  of  broth 


1665-1700]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  291 

and  a  piece  of  bread  to  all  applicants ;  even  soldiers 
crowded  in  with  the  beggars  to  get  their  share.  At  times 
in  Madrid,  bread  riots  cost  many  a  life ;  one  day  five 
women  were  stifled  to  death  in  scuffling  for  bread  at  the 
door  of  a  bake-house ;  the  police,  who  could  not  get  their 
pay,  joined  the  vagabonds  and  lived  by  robbery. 

I  suppose  there  never  was  before  or  since  an  example  of 
a  nation  so  thoroughly  ruined  by  bad  government  as  Spain 
presented  in  the  year  1700. 


CHAPTER  XLIII 

PHILIP    THE     FIFTH 

A.D.  1700-1746 

AT  the  death  of  Charles  the  Second,  three  princes — two 
grandsons  of  Philip  the  Fourth,  and  one  grandson  of 
Philip  the  Third — claimed  the  throne  of  Spain.  Charles 
decided  that  one  of  the  grandsons  of  Philip  the  Fourth 
— Philip  of  France  —  should  succeed  him,  and  as  in  this 
he  was  backed  by  King  Louis  the  Fourteenth  of  France, 
the  young  man  was  duly  crowned  ;  whereupon  the  two 
other  candidates  made  war  upon  him.  This  contention  is 
known  in  history  as  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  ; 
almost  every  power  in  Europe  took  part  in  it. 

It  lasted  thirteen  years,  and  at  the  end  of  it  Philip  was 
acknowledged  King  of  Spain.  But  he  lost  Sicily,  which 
went  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy ;  his  Italian  possessions,  which 
went  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany;  and  Gibraltar,  which 
went  to  the  English.  Thus  Spain  was  reduced  from  being 
the  foremost  power  in  Europe  almost  to  the  second  rank. 
But  I  am  not  sure  that  the  loss  was  not  a  real  gain,  for 
the  long  war,  during  which  the  soil  of  Spain  was  overrun 
by  a  multitude  of  foreigners,  had  the  effect  of  waking  the 
Spanish  spirit,  and  rousing  Spaniards  to  something  of  their 
old  manhood. 

It  did  not  rouse  the  king.  He  was  a  poor,  weak  creature, 
who  always  wanted  a  woman  to  lead  him.  When  he  was 
crowned  king,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  married  Marie 
Louise  of  Savoy,  who  was  fourteen;  and  to  take  care  of 
the  two  children,  Louis  the  Fourteenth  of  France  gave 
them  a  governess  in  the  person  of  Madame  Orsini,  who 
was  a  wily  intriguer.  The  young  king  spent  most  of  his 


1700-1746]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  293 

time  in  bed,  and  would  not  let  his  wife  out  of  his  sight ; 
while  the  two  young  people  were  chattering  and  playing 
games,  Madame  Orsini,  with  the  assistance  of  a  man 
named  Orri,  and  financiers  whom  Louis  the  Fourteenth 
had  sent  to  advise  her,  governed  the  kingdom. 


AT  MID-DAY  IN  THE  SUN 

The  Frenchmen  made  improvements  in  the  government, 
and  put  the  finances  in  better  order.  Notwithstanding 
the  war,  there  was  not  so  much  poverty  as  there  had  been 
under  Charles  the  Second,  and  business  showed  a  tendency 
to  pick  up.  Madame  Orsini  was  a  good  Catholic,  but  she 
was  not  so  much  in  love  with  the  Church  as  to  let  the 
priests  take  everything  that  was  in  sight;  she  put  a  stop 


294  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  [1700-1746 

to  the  operations  of  the  Inquisition.  When  the  fortunes 
of  war  went  against  him,  Philip  would  have  abandoned 
the  struggle,  and  gone  to  Mexico  or  Peru  ;  but  his  little 
wife,  strongly  backed  up  by  Madame  Orsini,  restored  his 
courage  by  her  brave  words,  and  put  life  into  him. 

One  day,  unluckily  for  him,  she  died.  Then  he  fell  into 
a  deep  depression,  went  to  bed,  and  would  not  get  up,  and 
would  see  no  one.  Madame  Orsini  was  in  despair.  In  her 
tribulation  she  sent  for  an  Italian  priest  of  her  acquaint- 
ance, and  sought  his  counsel.  His  name  was  Alberoni ; 
he  was  a  man  of  cunning  and  vigor.  Said  he  to  Madame 
Orsini : 

"The  thing  to  do  with  the  king  is  to  get  him  another 
wife." 

Madame  agreed,  and  they  two  ran  over  on  their  fingers 
all  the  princesses  in  Europe,  one  after  another.  At  last, 
Alberoni  said,  in  an  indifferent  tone,  that  there  was  a  fat 
little  girl  at  Parma,  who  had  been  brought  up  on  Parme- 
san butter  and  Parmesan  cheese,  and  who  had  not  a 
thought  beyond  her  embroidery;  she  would  work  under 
Madame  Orsini's  thumb,  if  she  were  made  Queen  of  Spain. 
Madame  thought  that  would  be  just  the  right  kind  of  girl 
for  Philip  to  marry.  So  she  sent  Alberoni  over  to  Parma 
to  marry  her  by  proxy,  and  bring  her  back  to  Spain.  Her 
name  was  Elizabeth,  or  Isabella,  Farnese. 

The  new  queen  lost  no  time  in  crossing  to  Spain,  where 
King  Philip  was  waiting  for  her,  and  journeyed  to  Madrid. 
At  the  last  station  on  the  way,  Madame  Orsini  met  her, 
and  welcomed  her  in  the  name  of  the  king.  The  young 
lady  turned  upon  the  old  one,  and  in  a  voice  of  fury  asked 
how  she  dared  present  herself  before  her  in  such  a  dress. 
Madame  Orsini  tried  to  explain  and  apologize,  but  Eliza- 
beth would  listen  to  nothing.  Calling  an  officer,  she  bade 
him  arrest  the  old  lady,  and  carry  her  out  of  Spain  that 
very  night.  It  was  bitter  weather,  the  ground  was  covered 
with  snow,  and  Madame  Orsini  had  no  cloak,  and  was  in 
evening  dress  :  but  the  officer's  orders  were  clear.  He 


1700-1746] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN 


295 


drove  her  to  the  frontier  without  a  stop,  except  to  change 
horses,  and  landed  her  in  France.  She  was  never  heard  of 
again  in  Spain — she  who  had  ruled  the  country  with  a  rod 
of  iron. 

Next  day  Elizabeth  met  Philip  and  married  him. 

"  And  now,  my  dear,"  said  she,  "  I  think  we  shall  have 
peace." 


ON  THE   ROAD  TO   THE  BULL-FIGHT 

She  appointed  Alberoni  prime-minister,  and  Spain  soon 
saw  that  she  had  made  a  wise  choice.  The  pope  hastened, 
at  Elizabeth's  request,  to  create  him  a  cardinal.  He  really 
did  much  for  Spain.  He  put  the  finances  in  order,  so  that 
there  was  a  little  money  in  the  treasury;  he  restored  some 
industries;  he  put  the  army  and  navy  on  a  better 
footing;  he  regulated  the  trade  with  the  Spanish  colo- 


296  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [1700-1746 

nies.  But  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  was  a  restless,  ambitious 
woman,  insisted  on  recovering  the  territory  Spain  had  lost 
by  the  War  of  the  Succession ;  under  her  orders,  Spain 
declared  war  against  nation  after  nation.  They  at  last 
combined  against  her,  and  at  every  point  the  Spanish 
armies  were  beaten.  Finally,  she  sued  for  peace,  but  for  a 
long  time  she  did  not  seem  able  to  come  to  an  agreement 
as  to  the  terms. 

She  had  in  her  service  a  Parmesan  servant  whose  name 
was  Laura  ;  she  put  on  the  queen's  shoes  and  stockings, 
and  was  the  only  person  who  saw  her  alone.  This  Laura, 
who  was  in  the  pay  of  Italy  and  France,  whispered  to  her 
while  she  was  tying  her  shoe  one  morning  that  peace 
could  be  made,  and  good  offices  found  for  the  members 
of  the  queen's  family,  if  Alberoni  were  dismissed.  That 
night — it  was  December  4th,  1719 — she  spent  several  hours 
discussing  affairs  quite  pleasantly  with  the  cardinal  and 
the  king.  Next  morning  a  secretary  entered  the  cardinal's 
chamber  before  he  was  up,  and  handed  him  a  letter,  dis- 
missing him  from  office,  and  ordering  him  to  leave  Madrid 
within  a  week. 

Then  peace  was  arranged.  But  the  king  fell  back  into 
his  old  fits  of  melancholy,  and  could  not  be  got  out  of  bed. 
He  moped  and  mourned,  until  one  day  he  rose,  dressed 
himself,  and  startled  everybody  by  following  the  example 
of  his  ancestor  Charles  the  First,  abdicating  the  throne, 
and  retiring,  not  to  a  convent,  but  to  the  palace  of  San 
Ildefonso.  His  son  Philip,  who  was  sixteen,  was  crowned 
king  in  his  stead.  This  did  not  last  long.  The  boy  king 
took  smallpox  and  died  of  it;  whereupon  his  father,  say- 
ing that  there  was  no  rest  for  him  anywhere,  again  took 
his  seat  on  the  throne. 

He  reigned  for  twenty -one  years  more.  They  were 
years  of  intrigue  and  fitful  wars,  which  resulted  in  noth- 
ing but  a  waste  of  lives  and  money.  One  personage 
loomed  up  in  them  whom  it  may  be  worth  your  while  to 
remember. 


1700-1746]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  297 

This  man's  name  was  Ripperda;  he  was  born  in  the 
Low  Countries,  but  was  of  Spanish  descent.  In  early  life  he 
settled  in  Holland  and  became  a  Protestant,  because  most 
of  the  Dutch  were  Protestants.  After  the  overthrow 
of  Alberoni  he  got  himself  appointed  Dutch  minister  to 
Spain;  and  he  then  became  a  Catholic  again.  He  now  per- 
suaded Queen  Elizabeth  to  employ  him  in  trying  to  revive 
the  industries  of  Spain.  He  succeeded  in  planting  a 
woollen  factory,  and  perhaps  some  others.  But  he  was 
ambitious,  and  took  no  rest  till  he  became  ambassador,  and, 
finally,  prime  -  minister.  It  was  his  misfortune  that  he 
talked  too  much  ;  he  betrayed  the  secrets  of  the  Spanish 
court,  was  detected,  and  imprisoned  in  the  fortress  of 
Segovia.  Here  he  would  have  probably  ended  his  days, 
but  for  a  servant-girl  who  had  fallen  in  love  with  him.  She 
managed  to  get  him  out  of  jail,  and  became  with  him  a 
wanderer  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  He  fled  in  turn  to 
Portugal,  England,  the  Low  Countries,  Russia,  and  Mo- 
rocco— where  he  became  a  Moslem.  But  everywhere  the 
implacable  vengeance  of  Elizabeth  followed  him,  and  he 
was  driven  out  of  country  after  country.  At  last  he  hid 
himself  in  a  small  seaport  on  the  Adriatic,  where  he 
changed  his  religion  once  more,  and  died  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith. 

Philip  the  Fifth  was  conversing  with  his  wife  on  July 
9th,  1746,  when  he  was  struck  by  a  sudden  fit  of  apoplexy, 
and  died  before  a  priest  or  doctor  could  be  got.  He  was 
not  so  bad  a  monarch  as  some  of  his  predecessors;  under 
him  knowledge  made  some  progress  in  Spain,  and  poverty 
was  not  as  wide-spread  as  it  had  been.  He  was  at  heart 
a  Frenchman,  and  at  this  time  the  French  were  more  in- 
telligent than  the  Spaniards. 

After  his  death  his  angry  wife  retired  to  an  obscure 
home  in  Spain,  and  was  never  heard  of  more. 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

FERDINAND  THE  SIXTH 

A.D.   1746-1749 

FERDINAND  THE  SIXTH,  the  second  son  of  Philip  the 
Fifth,  was  the  next  king.  He  was  thirty-eight  when  he  was 
crowned,  and  was  the  husband  of  a  Portuguese  princess 
named  Barbara,  who  was  so  plain  that,  when  he  first  saw 
her,  he  was  for  sending  her  back  to  her  father,  but  so 
bright  and  good  that  after  he  knew  her  he  came  to  adore 
her.  Like  his  father,  Ferdinand  was  subject  to  fits  of  low 
spirits  and  melancholy,  and  these  were  the  means  of  pro- 
curing him  the  service  of  a  most  useful  minister.  For  on 
one  occasion,  when  the  king  had  been  many  days  in  bed 
crying,  and  refused  to  get  up,  or  to  wash  himself,  the 
queen  secretly  introduced  into  the  next  room  the  famous 
singer  Farinelli,  who  sang  so  melodiously  that  Ferdinand 
started  up,  ordered  the  sweet  singer  to  be  brought  before 
him,  and  asked  him  what  reward  he  wanted  for  giving  him 
such  exquisite  delight. 

Farinelli,  who  knew  why  he  had  been  sent  for,  answered: 

"Nothing,  except  that  your  majesty  will  get  up,  wash 
yourself  and  dress,  and  go  out  for  a  walk." 

Ferdinand  could  not  part  with  him,  and  the  singer  be- 
came one  of  his  chief  advisers  till  he  died.  He  was  an  hon- 
est, worthy  fellow,  gave  good  advice,  and  never  took  a  bribe, 
which  was  considered  extraordinary  at  Madrid. 

Other  good  advisers  whom  the  king  drew  round  him  were 
an  old  Spanish  grandee  named  Carvajal,  who  was  such  a  mir- 
acle of  honesty  that  he  considered  a  compliment  a  crime ; 
and  a  peasant  who  is  known  by  the  name  of  Ensenada,  and 
who,  I  suspect,  bright  as  he  was,  was  not  so  stiff-necked  on 


1746-1749]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  299 

the  subject  of  bribes.  His  real  name  I  do  not  know. 
When  he  was  called  into  the  king's  counsels  he  was  made 
Marquis  of  Ensenada,  which  in  Spanish  means  "In  him- 
self, nothing." 

This  was  very  humble,  no  doubt;  but  I  do  not  find  that 
after  he  was  well  seated  in  power  he  was  remarkable  for 
humility. 

These  three  men  now  undertook  to  cure  the  evils  under 
which  Spain  had  been  suffering  ever  since  the  middle  of 
the  reign  of  Philip  the  Second.  And  I  confess  it  fills  me 
with  astonishment  to  see  how  much  they  accomplished, 
considering  the  ignorance  of  the  people,  the  helplessness  of 
the  king,  and  the  power  of  the  Church. 

They  reduced  the  taxes  on  food  and  other  things  so  that 
the  people  could  pay  them  without  starving.  They  put  a 
stop  to  the  stealing  of  public  money  by  those  who  under- 
took to  collect  the  taxes.  They  built  roads  and  improved 
the  harbors  ;  they  encouraged  the  establishment  of  fac- 
tories ;  they  stimulated  ship-building ;  they  repealed  the 
laws  which  had  driven  foreign  trade  from  Spanish  ports; 
they  saw  to  it  that  the  king  paid  his  debts;  they  regulated 
the  expenses  of  government  in  proportion  to  its  income,  so 
that  there  was  something  over  every  year,  and  when  Fer- 
dinand died  there  was  a  large  sum  in  the  treasury.  They 
punished  corrupt  judges  with  severity,  and  rewarded  pu- 
pils at  the  colleges  who  showed  proficiency  in  learning; 
finally,  they  destroyed  the  power  of  the  pope  in  Spain. 
Under  Philip  the  Second  he  appointed  twelve  thousand 
priests  to  serve  in  Spain;  at  the  close  of  Ferdinand's  reign 
he  had  only  the  right  of  appointing  fifty-two.  There  were 
still  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  priests  in  Spain,  and 
they  still  owned  half  the  kingdom.  But  a  reckoning  was 
at  hand. 

In  1754  Carvajal  died,  worn  out  with  faithful  work. 
Two  years  afterwards  Ensenada  was  detected  in  assuming 
power  which  did  not  belong  to  him,  and  was  dismissed. 
France  and  England  were  at  war.  It  was  in  1756  that  the 


300  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [1746-1749 

English  General  Braddock,  under  whom  Washington  was 
serving,  was  defeated  by  the  French  at  Fort  Duquesne. 
Each  nation  tried  to  get  Spain  into  the  war  on  its  side,  and 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  firmness  of  Queen  Barbara,  one  of 
them  would  probably  have  succeeded.  She  said  Spain  had 
had  enough  of  war;  what  money  the  people  earned  they 
wanted  for  themselves. 

The  heart  of  this  noble  woman  was  broken  by  the  ter- 
rible disaster  which  befell  her  native  city  of  Lisbon,  in 
Portugal,  on  November  1st,  1755.  On  that  dreadful  day 
the  people  had  hardly  got  out  of  their  beds  when  they 
heard  a  rushing  sound,  as  of  underground  thunder;  then, 
in  an  instant,  the  earth  began  to  shake  from  side  to  side, 
and  the  strongest  houses  to  totter  and  fall ;  then  the 
waters  of  the  river  flowed-  out  to  sea,  leaving  the  bottom 
bare,  and  sweeping  out  into  the  ocean  every  craft  that 
floated  ;  then,  after  the  lapse  of  perhaps  a  minute  or  two, 
the  waters  returned  in  a  wave  fifty  feet  high,  and  drowned 
every  living  creature  in  its  path.  It  is  said  that  in  the 
space  of  six  minutes,  fifty  thousand  people  lost  their  lives, 
including  many  friends  and  relations  of  the  Queen  of 
Spain. 

She  roused  herself  from  the  shock  to  furnish  food  and 
clothing  to  those  who  had  lost  everything  by  the  earth- 
quake. But,  this  done,  her  despair  returned.  Her  health 
gradually  declined,  and  on  August  27th,  1758,  she  died. 

Her  husband,  who  was  passionately  attached  to  her, 
could  not  get  over  his  grief.  At  times  his  paroxysms 
frightened  his  friends;  he  seemed  to  be  going  mad,  like 
Charles  the  Second.  He  would  not  eat ;  he  could  not 
sleep;  he  would  not  speak  when  spoken  to.  Just  a  year 
after  his  wife's  death  he  breathed  his  last. 

He  left  a  country  which,  in  comparison  with  what  it  had 
been,  was  prosperous  and  happy ;  which  shows  you  that 
the  condition  of  a  kingdom  does  not  always  depend  on  the 
quality  of  its  king. 


CHAPTER  XLV 

CHARLES    THE    THIRD 

A.D.    1759-1789 

Now  we  come  to  a  king  who  surrounded  himself  with 
wise  counsellors,  and  who  honestly  tried  to  carry  out  the 
work  which  Alberoni  and  Carvajal  and  Ensenada  had  be- 
gun. This  was  Charles  the  Third,  who  had  been  King  of 
Naples,  and  had  had  twenty-five  years  apprenticeship  to 
the  business  of  governing.  He  knew,  when  he  came  to  the 
throne  of  Spain,  that  his  reign  was  to  be  a  fight  to  the  death 
between  him  and  the  Church,  and  though  he  was  a  devout 
Catholic,  he  went  into  the  fight  with  a  firm  purpose  to  win 
if  he  could.  There  could  not  be  two  masters  in  Spain. 
He  must  either  put  down  the  Church,  or  it  would  put  him 
down. 

This  fight  was  going  on  in  Portugal,  France,  and  Italy, 
as  well  as  in  Spain.  The  strength  of  the  Church  grew  out  of 
the  general  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  people,  who 
obeyed  the  priests  through  their  terror  of  hell  in  another 
world.  How  dense  the  ignorance  was  you  would  not  be- 
lieve if  it  were  not  actually  proved.  There  was  but  one 
public  library  in  Spain,  and  that  had  recently  been  started 
at  Madrid.  No  one  bought  books,  except  books  of  devo- 
tion. A  student  at  the  great  University  of  Salamanca  was 
five  years  there  before  he  ever  heard  of  mathematics.  The 
priests,  who  were  the  only  teachers  of  youth,  refused  to 
admit  the  discoveries  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  denied  the 
circulation  of  the  blood.  The  doctors  refused  to  let  the 
streets  of  Madrid  be  cleaned,  because  that  would  be  flying 
in  the  face  of  Providence.  There  was  no  one  in  Spain  who 
could  teach  botany  or  astronomy  or  physics  or  public  law. 


302  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1759-1789 

There  was  no  one  who  could  make  a  map  of  Spain,  or  build 
a  ship,  or  rig  it  after  it  was  built.  The  peasants  did  not 
even  know  how  to  build  their  own  houses,  or  to  mend  their 
tools. 

A  people  so  ignorant  were  easily  led  into  superstition, 
and  controlled  by  priests  who  claimed  to  be  able  to  doom 
them  to  eternal  perdition,  or  to  secure  their  admission  to 
heaven.  Spaniards  came  to  obey  their  priests  as  if  they 
had  been  real  agents  of  God,  as  they  said  they  were;  and 
when  the  king  went  counter  to  the  priests,  the  people  went 
counter  to  the  king  just  as  far  as  the  priests  chose  to  lead 
them. 

Foremost  among  these  priests  were  the  brotherhood  of 
Jesuits,  which,  as  you  remember,  had  been  founded  by 
Ignatius  Loyola  for  the  loftiest  and  purest  purposes.  Its 
members  had  long  ago  abandoned  their  original  aims,  and 
now  openly  sought  little  else  besides  making  themselves 
all-powerful.  Most  people  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  indeed, 
thought  they  were  stronger  than  the  king. 

In  the  year  in  which  Charles  came  to  the  throne,  a  young 
lady  was  found  in  a  street  in  Lisbon  dead,  with  many 
wounds  on  her  body,  which  was  wrapped  in  a  sheet;  and 
the  same  night  the  king  was  shot  at  and  severely  wounded. 
The  Prime-Minister  of  Portugal,  whose  name  was  Pombal, 
claimed  to  have  traced  the  crime  to  a  plot  set  on  foot  by 
the  Jesuits.  He  found  passages  in  their  books  which  justi- 
fied crime,  if  the  criminal  fancied  that  good  would  result 
from  it,  and,  by  a  single  stroke  of  his  pen,  he  exiled  all  the 
Jesuits  from  Portugal  and  the  colonies,  including  Brazil. 
This  was  in  September,  1759. 

France  followed;  the  prime-minister,  Choiseul,  ordered 
all  Jesuits  to  leave  France  on  a  given  day. 

In  Spain,  Charles  hesitated  to  break  with  so  powerful  a 
body  as  the  Jesuits.  But  events  forced  his  hand.  His 
minister  ordered  the  streets  of  Madrid  to  be  lighted,  and 
forbade  the  Spaniards  from  wearing  the  large  cloak  and 
slouch  hat  with  a  flapping  brim,  which  often  served  robbers 


1759-1789] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN 


303 


and  murderers  as  a  disguise.  At  this  turmoil  arose.  It  is 
said — I  know  not  how  true  or  false  it  may  be — that  the 
Jesuits  put  the  notion  of  rebelling  into  the  minds  of  the 
mob.  They  were  apt  to  object  to  measures  which  they 
had  not  inspired.  However  this  may  be,  the  mob  rose  in 
arms,  took  possession  of  Madrid,  and  drove  Charles  out  of 


A   SPANISH   MONK 


the  city.  He  had  to  yield  to  their  demands  to  dismiss 
his  minister,  and  to  let  the  cloaks  and  slouched  hats  re- 
main. 

But  he  bided  his  time.  He  found  a  stalwart  Spaniard, 
the  Count  Aranda,  who  had  been  abroad,  and  was  a  man 
of  intelligence  and  intrepidity;  him  he  made  prime-minis- 
ter. Aranda  had  the  king  write  letters  with  his  own  hand 


304  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN          [1759-1789 

to  the  governors  of  every  province  in  Spain  and  Spanish 
America — the  letters  to  be  opened  in  private  on  a  certain 
day  and  at  a  certain  hour,  and  not  before. 

After  sufficient  time  had  elapsed,  at  midnight,  on  March 
31st,  1769,  every  Jesuit  college  in  Spain  was  surrounded 
by  soldiers,  the  doors  broken  open,  and  the  Jesuits  bidden 
to  rise  and  dress.  When  they  were  gathered  in  the  refec- 
tory a  royal  decree  was  read  to  them,  expelling  them  from 
the  Spanish  dominions.  Every  member  was  allowed  to 
take  with  him  his  money,  his  linen,  and  his  breviary;  un- 
der the  escort  of  dragoons  they  were  all  conveyed  in  car- 
riages to  the  sea-coast,  where  they  were  shipped  in  vessels 
and  transported  to  Italy.  I  dare  say  that  on  that  cruel 
journey  some  of  them  remembered  how  their  order  had  in- 
sisted on  the  expulsion  of  the  Moriscoes,  less  than  sixty 
years  before. 

They  were  ferried  across  to  Civita  Vecchia,  in  the  do- 
minions of  the  pope,  but  his  holiness  refused  to  allow  them 
to  land,  saying  that  he  could  not  support  all  the  priests 
who  were  driven  out  of  other  countries.  For  three 
months  they  were  tempest -tossed  on  the  Mediterranean, 
vainly  trying  to  get  permission  to  land  somewhere,  and  be- 
ing refused  everywhere.  At  last  they  were  allowed  to  set 
foot  in  Corsica,  where  they  slept  in  warehouses  and  barns 
and  stables,  and  were  fed  by  charity.  Many  of  them  who 
were  old  died  of  exposure  and  privation.  The  end  of  it 
was  that  the  King  of  Spain  agreed  to  pay  the  pope  so  much 
a  head  for  each  of  them,  and  on  this  condition  they  were 
let  into  Italy. 

The  King  of  Naples  and  the  Duke  of  Parma  followed 
the  example  of  Spain,  and  expelled  the  Jesuits.  But  the 
simple  people  of  Spain  stood  by  them  in  their  afflictions, 
and  when  the  king,  as  the  custom  was,  asked  the  people 
what  boon  he  should  grant  them  on  his  birthday,  the  mob 
replied  with  one  voice: 

"Give  us  back  the  Jesuits!" 

The  police  discovered  that  they  had  been  tutored  to  say 


1759-178'J]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  305 

this  by  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  and  Aranda  very  quickly 
sent  him  out  of  the  kingdom  to  join  his  friends. 

At  last  the  pope  himself  became  disgusted  with  the  evi- 
dence of  the  Jesuit  intrigues,  and  by  a  formal  bull  he  sup- 
pressed the  order.  So  for  a  time  there  was  peace,  as  far  as 
they  were  concerned. 

Having  got  rid  of  the  chief  obstacle  to  reform,  Aranda 
£et  to  work  to  improve  the  condition  of  Spain.  He  abol- 
ished the  pope's  court.  Up  to  his  titne  every  church  was 
a  sanctuary  where  a  criminal  could  defy  arrest.  He  pro- 
vided that  there  should  not  be  more  than  two  sanctuaries 
in  capital  cities,  and  one  in  smaller  cities.  In  our  time, 
the  police  would  consider  that  more  than  ample  In  the 
Morena  Mountains,  which  was  a  haunt  of  robbers,  he 
founded  a  manufacturing  city,  which  he  called  La  Carolina; 
and,  as  there  were  no  Spaniards  who  could  be  trusted  to 
handle  looms  or  machinery,  he  imported  six  thousand  Ger- 
mans and  Swiss  to  carry  on  the  business. 

The  misfortune  was  that  most  of  these  new-comers  were 
Protestants,  and  when  Aranda  retired  from  office  the  In- 
quisition swooped  down  upon  them  and  scattered  them. 
Olavide,  Aranda's  friend,  tried  to  protect  them;  but  the 
Inquisition  laid  hands  on  him,  confiscated  his  property,  shut 
him  up  in  a  monastic  prison  for  eight  years,  and  pronounced 
him  incapable  of  ever  holding  any  office  of  power  or  profit. 

Aranda's  successor  was  another  gallant  Spaniard,  named 
Florida  Blanca.  It  was  his  sad  fate  to  engage  in  more  wars 
than  Spain  could  rightfully  afford.  He  joined  the  French 
in  war  against  England  at  the  time  of  the  American  war 
of  Independence,  and  accomplished  no  results.  He  tried 
more  than  once  to  take  Gibraltar  from  the  English;  but  al- 
ways without  success.  He  put  down  a  rising  of  the  native 
Peruvians  in  South  America,  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that 
the  Peruvian  chief,  Tupac-Amaru,  was  inhumanly  butch- 
ered with  all  his  family.  He  took  Minorca  from  the  Eng- 
lish. 

But  his  chief  work  was  at  home.     He  did  his  best  to  en- 

20 


306  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1759-1789 

courage  manufactures;  and  though  he  pursued  his  object 
in  the  wrong  way,  namely,  by  levying  high  protective  du- 
ties on  foreign  goods,  he  did  get  some  branches  of  industry 
on  their  feet.  He  was  able  to  reduce  the  taxes  without  im- 
poverishing the  treasury.  He  brought  in  foreigners  to 
work  the  mines.  He  improved  the  roads  and  canals,  and 
reorganized  the  police.  He  compelled  the  wealthy  clergy 
to  make  provision  for  the  poor. 

With  the  Inquisition  he  was  always  at  war.  That  body 
accused  Charles,  who  was  a  man  of  devout  piety,  of  be- 
ing an  infidel  tainted  with  French  heresies;  and,  among 
the  people,  many  were  ignorant  enough  to  believe  it. 
Florida  Blanca  retaliated  by  requiring  the  Inquisition  to 
submit  their  sentences  to  the  king  before  they  could  be  exe- 
cuted. Thus  he  held  a  rod  over  their  head  which  curbed 
their  blood-thirstiness.  In  the  reign  of  Philip  the  Fifth, 
the  Inquisition,  burned  or  sent  to  the  galleys  or  impris- 
oned for  life  the  enormous  number  of  three  thousand  per- 
sons; in  Ferdinand  the  Sixth's  reign,  only  eighty  persons 
were  so  punished;  in  Charles  the  Third's  reign,  only  sixty. 
Sixty  seems  a  terrible  number  of  victims  to. have  been  sacri- 
ficed to  bigotvy  in  twenty-nine  years  ;  but  the  grand  in- 
quisitor was  disgusted,  and  thought  the  business  of  the  In- 
quisition was  going  to  the  dogs. 

In  the  year  1789,  Charles's  son,  Gabriel,  whom  he  loved 
with  a  passionate  love,  caught  smallpox  from  his  wife,  and 
died.  The  broken-hearted  father  went  back  to  his  palace, 
and  never  concerned  himself  about  anything  afterwards. 
In  less  than  a  month  he  was  seized  with  inflammation  of  the 
lungs,  and  died. 

He  was  one  of  the  best  kings  Spain  ever  had,  but  he 
could  not  raise  his  people  to  the  level  of  his  own  intelli- 
gence. He  had  but  one  passion,  which  was  hunting.  Shortly 
before  he  died,  lie  wrote  to  his  brother  that  he  had  killed 
with  his  own  hand,  in  the  course  of  his  life,  five  hundred 
and  fifty-nine  wolves,  and  fifty -three  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  foxes. 


CHAPTER   XLVI 

THE   PRINCE   OF   THE   PEACE 

A.D.  1788-1851 

THE  eldest  son  of  Charles  the  Third  was  an  idiot,  and 
had  been  declared  incapable  of  inheriting  the  throne.  His 
brother  Charles,  who  had  been  known  as 'the  Prince  of 
the  Astnrias,  succeeded  his  father  in  1788.  He  was  a  man 
of  forty,  ignorant,  devout,  and  narrow-minded.  He  had 
married  a  dreadful  woman,  Maria  Louisa,  who  combined 
all  the  faults  which  a  queen  could  possess;  she  was  tyranni- 
cal, meddlesome,  short-sighted,  superstitious,  and  dissolute. 

When  Charles  came  to  the  throne,  Florida  Blanca  con- 
sented to  help  him  with  his  advice.  But  the  priests  did 
not  like  the  old  statesman;  they  poisoned  the  king's  mind 
against  him,  and  with  the  help  of  the  queen  they  over- 
threw him.  lie  was  dismissed  from  office,  and  locked  up 
in  a  castle  where  he  was  left  without  food,  and  would  have 
starved  had  not  his  brother  sent  him  supplies  in  secret. 
King  Charles  appointed  Aranda  in  his  place;  but  the 
priests  did  not  like  him  either,  nor  did  the  queen;  so  he 
was  presently  dismissed.  Then  said  Maria  Louisa: 

"  We  must  make  Manuel  Godoy  prime-minister." 

And  the  dull,  stupid  king  consented.  This  Godoy  was 
a  young  man  who  had  served  in  the  life-guards,  and  was 
said  to  be  the  handsomest  man  in  Spain.  The  queen  had 
seen  him  at  a  review,  and  had  taken  a  fancy  to  his  face  and 
fifjure.  She  had  forced  her  weak  husband  to  create  him 

O 

a  duke,  and  now,  before  he  was  twenty-five,  she  made  him 
prime- minister.  Soon  afterwards  he  got  another  title — 
Prince  of  the  Peace — because  he  had  made  a  peace  with 
France,  and  by  that  title  he  was  generally  known. 


308  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1788-1851 

He  was  a  young  man  of  good  family,  and  had  been  well 
educated,  but  he  had  no  principle  and  no  control  of  his  pas- 
sions or  his  appetites.  He  married  early  in  life  a  pretty 
Spanish  girl  named  Pepita  Tudo.  When  he  rose  to  high 
favor  with  the  queen,  he  sent  his  wife  to  live  in  a  distant 
country  town,  and  that  was  the  end  of  her.  He  was  so  hand- 
some, and  so  dashing,  and  dressed  so  beautifully,  and  rode 
such  prancing  horses,  that  all  the  girls  in  Spain  were  in 
love  with  him.  Among  these  was  one  whose  father  was  an 
uncle  of  the  king,  and  likewise  a  cardinal  and  an  arch- 
bishop. Queen  Maria  Louisa  ordered  the  prince  to  marry 
her,  which  he  did  without  wincing.  And  this  nice  party, 
the  pig-headed  king  and  his  shameless  wife,  the  wild  scape- 
grace and  the  cardinal's  daughter,  all  held  high  revel,  and 
feasted  and  dressed  and  rode  and  hunted  as  though  life 
were  nothing  but  a  frolic,  and  there  were  no  grave  burghers 
in  Madrid  to  knit  their  brows  at  such  goings-on. 

Just  at  this  time,  partly  in  consequence  of  the  like 
doings  in  France,  the  French  Revolution — of  which  you 
have  read  in  A.  Child's  History  of  France  —  broke  out; 
the  French  king,  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  lost  his  head,  and 
the  French  clergy,  from  bishop  to  altar-boy,  were  driven 
into  the  highways  and  byways  to  earn  their  bread.  The 
priests  of  Spain  took  their  part.  They  had  plucked  up 
heart  since  Charles  the  Third  died,  and  Aranda  and  Florida 
Blanca  had  been  got  rid  of.  Under  those  statesmen  the 
Inquisition  kept  quiet;  now  it  began  to  clamor  about  its 
being  the  duty  of  good  Spaniards  to  make  war  upon 
French  atheists  and  infidels.  Priests  preached  sermons  to 
this  effect,  and  the  poor  simple  Spaniards,  never  stopping 
to  think  that  affairs  in  France  concerned  Frenchmen  and 
not  Spaniards,  cried  aloud  to  be  led  against  the  French 
heretics.  At  Madrid,  the  fury  against  the  French  rose  to 
such  a  pitch  that  the  blind  and  the  lame,  who  lived  by 
begging,  sent  their  earnings  to  government  to  help  pay  the 
expenses  of  the  war. 

Godoy  was  willing  to  make  war  on  France,  or  any  other 


1788-1851] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIST 


309 


nation,  or  to  do  anything  else  which  the  people  wanted,  so 
long  as  he  was  let  to  ride  his  fine  horses,  and  to  eat  his 
gay  suppers  with  the  queen  and  the  cardinal's  daughter, 
and  the  other  gay  and  jovial  members  of  the  court.  He 


A  PROFESSIONAL   BEGGAR 

declared  war,  set  France  at  defiance,  and  pretty  soon  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  Spanish  troops  soundly  thrashed 
by  the  French  Republicans.  The  French  blood  was  up, 
and  French  soldiers  came  streaming  over  the  Pyrenees  by 
the  thousand,  and  overran  all  northern  Spain. 


310  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1788-1851 

This  was  not  what  the  priests  wanted,  or  the  people 
either,  and  they  began  to  bawl  for  peace  as  lustily  as  they 
had  bawled  for  war,  and  Godoy  said: 

"Oh,  very  well!  If  you  want  peace,  you  shall  have 
it." 

And  he  signed  a  treaty  with  France,  and  went  on  feast- 
ing and  frolicking  and  riding  and  dancing  with  the  queen 
and  the  cardinal's  daughter,  and  the  prettiest  women  in 
Spain,  while  King  Charles  sat  gloomily  in  a  corner,  read- 
ing his  breviary  and  mumbling  Aves. 

Then  disputes  arose  with  England,  and  Godoy  declared 
war  upon  that  country.  The  Spanish  fleet  joined  the 
French  fleet,  and  attacked  the  British  fleets.  There  was 
a  battle  off  Cape  St.  Vincent,  and  the  Spaniards  were  beat- 
en; there  was  another  battle  off  Trafalgar,  at  which  the 
British  admiral  was  Lord  Nelson,  of  whom  you  have 
heard,  one  of  the  bravest  and  most  skilful  sailors  who  ever 
sailed  the  seas;  he  entirely  demolished  the  allies,  and  put 
Spain  once  more  out  of  conceit  with  war. 

By  this  time  the  Spanish  people  began  to  hate  Godoy. 
They  had  never  liked  the  loose  and  wild  life  which  he  led. 
They  were  quite  aware  of  the  behavior  of  the  court,  and 
of  the  lavish  folly  with  which  a  parcel  of  idle  and  prof- 
ligate women  squandered  money  while  the  treasury  was 
empty  and  the  poor  were  starving.  Pretty  soon  they  had 
still  graver  reasons  to  dislike  the  prince.  It  seemed  im- 
possible for  him  and  the  queen  to  remain  quiet.  As  if 
they  had  not  tried  one  bout  with  France  and  been  obliged 
to  eat  humble  pie,  they  must  now  try  another  while  Na- 
poleon was  away  in  Germany  fighting  with  Prussia.  Godoy 
summoned  all  able-bodied  Spaniards  into  the  field  to  fight 
France.  A  week  afterwards,  in  October,  1806,  Napoleon 
won  the  battle  of  Jena,  and  for  the  time  made  an  end  of 
Prussia.  Then  he  read  the  proclamation  of  the  Prince  of 
the  Peace  with  a  grim  smile. 

"  Write  me  a  letter,"  said  he,  to  one  of  his  generals,  "  to 
this  Spanish  popinjay,  and  say  that  I  want  sixteen  thou- 


1788-1851]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  311 

sand  of  the  best  troops  in  Spain  to  garrison  some  Prussian 
forts  which  I  have  taken." 

Godoy  neither  ate  nor  slept  till  sixteen  thousand  men 
were  despatched. 

"  Now,"  said  Napoleon,  "  write  me  another  letter  to  this 
Spanish  upstart  to  say  that  if  Spain  dares  to  trade  wilh 
my  enemy,  England,  to  buy  any  English  goods,  or  to  send 
any  wine  or  fruit  to  England,  I  will  grind  the  Spanish 
monarchy  to  powder,  and  will  hang  the  Prince  of  the  Peace 
on  a  gibbet  so  high  that  every  one  shall  see  him." 

Godoy  replied  that  he  would  rather  be  dead  than  trade 
with  the  English,  that  he  abominated  all  Englishmen,  espe- 
cially since  the  battle  of  Trafalgar,  and  that  he  thought 
the  French  were  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  an  angel,  who  had  been  sent  into  the  world  as 
a  blessing. 

At  all  of  which  Napoleon  smiled  more  grimly  than  ever. 

King  Charles  the  Fourth  and  his  merry  queen  nearly 
died  of  fright  when  Napoleon  began  to  threaten.  When 
Godoy  came  to  them  and  said  he  had  made  it  all  right 
with  the  emperor,  and  that  Napoleon  and  he  loved  each 
other  a  little  better  than  brothers,  the  imbecile  king 
could  not  sufficiently  reward  his  wife's  friend.  He  made 
him  generalissimo  of  the  army,  lord  high  admiral  of  the 
fleet,  protector  of  commerce,  and  serene  highness.  Loaded 
with  all  these  new  dignities,  and  surrounded  by  a  splendid 
retinue,  all  on  prancing  horses,  with  trumpets  blowing  and 
girls  strewing  flowers,  the  prince  made  his  entry  into  Ma- 
drid, as  if  he  had  saved  his  country. 

But  he  had  reached  the  turning-point  in  his  destiny.  A 
French  army  came  creeping,  creeping  over  the  Pyrenees, 
and  wormed  its  way  through  the  mountains  of  Galicia  and 
the  Asturias  into  Portugal.  The  Spaniards  knew  what 
this  meant.  All  at  once,  without  any  warning,  they  rose 
in  the  night  and  attacked  the  favorite's  house,  set  it  on 
fire,  set  fire  to  his  brother's  house,  pillaged  both  of  them, 
and  burned  them  to  the  ground.  Strong  men  cried  with 


312  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1788-1851 

rage  when  they  found  that  Godoy  had  escaped  them. 
They  wanted  to  tear  him  limb  from  limb  with  their  nails. 
Think  how  long  they  had  hated  him  and  swallowed  down 
their  hate! 

Hardly  a  day  had  passed  before  they  caught  him.  Ah! 
his  story  would  not  take  long  to  tell  if,  on  that  day,  some 
brave  Spaniards  had  not  interposed  between  him  and  the 
mob,  and  locked  him  up  in  a  prison  for  safe-keeping.  So 
fierce  was  the  fury  of  the  people  that  the  miserable  creature 
cowered  and  shivered  behind  the  strong  stone  walls  of  his 
prison  when  he  heard  the  howls  and  the  roar  outside.  He 
did  not  stay  long  in  jail.  Napoleon  needed  a  tool  to  help 
him  plunder  Spain.  He  sent  an  army  to  escort  the  prince 
to  Bayonne,  and  employed  him  to  assist  in  the  degradation 
of  his  country. 

After  the  war  in  Spain  was  ended,  Godoy  lived  in  Paris, 
and  when  Napoleon  fell,  he  found  himself  pretty  lonely. 
Spaniards  would  have  nothing  to  say  to  him,  and  he  was 
afraid  of  going  out  at  night  for  fear  of  being  stabbed  in 
the  back.  His  money  ran  short.  He  would  have  starved 
if  the  French  government  had  not  granted  him  a  pension 
of  a  thousand  dollars  a  year.  In  1842,  when  he  was  an 
old  man,  Spain  restored  to  him  some  of  his  estates,  and  he 
lived  in  a  sort  of  splendor  till  1851,  when  he  died,  far  from 
all  those  who  had  loved  him. 


CHAPTER  XLVII 

THE  OLD  KING  AND  THE  NEW  ONE 

A.D.  1807-1808 

KING  CHARLES  THE  FOURTH  bad  a  son  who  was  born  in 
1784,  and  whose  name  was  Ferdinand.  As  he  grew  to 
manhood  he  hated  Godoy,  at  which  you  will  not  be  sur- 
prised; but  what  may  surprise  you  is  that  he  hated  his 
father  and  mother  quite  as  bitterly.  This  Ferdinand  wrote 
to  Napoleon  in  1807  that  Spain  was  being  ruined  by  Godoy, 
and  would  he  be  so  kind  as  to  interfere  a  little  ?  Nothing 
could  have  suited  the  ambitious  emperor  better.  But  he 
was  too  wary  to  answer  Ferdinand's  letter,  and  when  the 
Prince  of  the  Asturias  —  as  Ferdinand  was  called  —  wrote 
again  to  say  that  he  was  old  enough  to  be  married,  and 
would  the  emperor  bestow  on  him  the  hand  of  some  girl  of 
his  family,  Napoleon  nodded,  smilingly,  but  said  never  a 
word. 

Ferdinand  was  so  loose  a  talker  that  Godoy  soon  learned 
all  about  his  letters  to  France,  and  King  Charles  was  told 
by  his  minister  that  his  son  had  plotted  his  death.  The 
old  king  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  guards,  marched 
to  Ferdinand's  quarters,  arrested  him,  and  locked  him  up 
in  prison.  Charles  wrote  to  Napoleon  that  he  had  been 
saved  from  a  terrible  danger,  planned  against  him  by  his 
own  dear  son  and  heir,  and  that  he  was  afraid  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  punish  the  boy  so  as  to  make  an  example  of 
him. 

Two  days  afterwards  Ferdinand  begged  his  father's 
pardon,  and  said  he  was  sorry  for  what  he  had  done. 
Whereupon  the  old  king  wrote  that  "  where  a  guilty  party 
solicits  pardon,  the  heart  of  a  father  cannot  refuse  it  to  a 


314  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1807-1808 

son."  And  Charles  and  the  Prince  of  the  Asturias  showed 
themselves  to  the  people  arm  in.  arm,  and  embraced  in 
public. 

By  this  time  Napoleon  had  made  up  his  mind  what  to 
do.  He  had  an  army  in  Portugal;  he  used  it  to  drive  out 
the  royal  family,  and  he  bade  his  General  Junot  take  com- 
mand of  the  kingdom.  This  done,  he  turned  round  on 
Spain,  and  moved  another  army  into  Catalonia.  He  was 
going  to  interfere  a  little,  as  the  Prince  of  the  Asturias  had 
invited  him  to  do.  But  all  the  time  he  remained  King 
Charles's  best  friend.  On  the  very  day  when  the  French 
moved  on  Barcelona,  Napoleon  sent  the  Spanish  king  a  pres- 
ent of  twelve  beautiful  horses,  with  a  letter  saying  that  lie 
would  call  on  him  soon. 

When  Charles  knew  for  certain  that  the  French  occu- 
pied Catalonia,  he  resolved  to  follow  the  example  of  the 
royal  family  of  Portugal,  and  run  away  to  the  American 
colonies.  His  carriages  drove  to  the  palace  door,  and  a 
strong  body  of  cavalry  and  artillery  was  mustered  to  es- 
cort them  to  Seville,  where  he  intended  to  take  ship.  But 
a  mob  gathered,  surrounded  the  carriages,  filled  the  air 
with  cries  and  threats,  cut  the  traces  of  the  horses,  and 
drove  the  old  king  back  into  the  palace.  In  the  crowd 
stood  the  Prince  of  the  Asturias,  cool  and  sneering. 

"  Were  you  going  to  run  away,  too  ?"  asked  a  by- 
stander. 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  he;  "  I  stay  with  my  people." 

Whereupon  the  mob  declared  that  Ferdinand  was  a  true 
Spaniard,  and  the  very  man  to  be  king. 

That  night  Charles  abdicated,  and  Ferdinand  was  pro- 
claimed king.  Charles  wrote  a  letter  in  which  he  said  that 
his  health  required  rest  and  a  milder  climate,  that  his  ab- 
dication was  made  of  his  own  free  will,  and  that  his  beloved 
son  would  govern  wisely  and  well.  Two  days  afterwards 
he  wrote  to  Napoleon  that  he  had  not  in  the  least  acted  of 
his  own  free  will,  but  had  been  forced  to  abdicate,  and 
would  the  emperor  please  set  him  back  on  the  throne  ? 


1807-1808] 


A    CHILD  S    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN 


315 


On  March  20th,  1808,  he  told  the  foreign  ambassadors  that 
his  abdication  was  his  own  choice,  and  had  given  him  much 
pleasure.  On  the  following  day  he  wrote  to  the  foreign 
courts  that  he  had  abdicated  in  order  to  avoid  bloodshed, 
and  that  the  act  was  therefore  null. 


PEASANTS   IN   THE   MARKET-PLACE 

The  knavish  son  of  this  knavish  father  was  going  to  bo 
pretty  roughly  awakened  from  his  fool's  dream.  On  the  day 
after  he  became  king  he  called  on  General  Murat,  who 
represented  Napoleon  at  Madrid.  Fei'dinand  went  in  great 
state,  with  a  gorgeous  staff  and  a  grand  escort.  Murat 
stood  erect  and  stern  in  the  centre  of  the  room.  The 


316  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  [1807-1808 

king  said  he  was  glad  to  meet  him  as  the  emperor's  envoy, 
and  added  other  pleasant  speeches.  Murat  never  opened 
his  mouth.  The  king  made  a  few  more  remarks,  with  a 
rather  forced  smile  on  his  lips.  Murat  did  not  answer  a 
syllable,  but  stood  like  a  man  of  stone,  and  looked  straight 
before  him  gravely  and  frowningly.  Ferdinand,  after 
fidgeting  with  his  sword  and  gloves,  had  no  choice  but 
to  go. 

It  was  made  known  to  Ferdinand  that  the  emperor  was 
coming  to  Madrid,  and  he  was  told  that  it  would  be  but 
polite  to  go  and  meet  him.  He  started  forth  accordingly, 
taking  care  to  send  word  in  advance  to  Napoleon  that 
Spain  would  give  him  every  assistance  in  destroying  the 
independence  of  Portugal,  and  making  it  a  French  prov- 
ince. Napoleon  never  answered  a  word. 

When  Ferdinand  reached  Vittoria  in  old  Navarre,  near 
the  French  border,  he  was  warned  that  he  had  better  go 
no  farther.  Wise  old  Spaniards  bade  him  beware  of  putting 
himself  in  the  power  of  the  emperor.  But  General  Savary, 
who  spoke  for  Napoleon,  said  he  would  let  Ferdinand  cut 
off  his  head  if  any  trouble  carne,  that  Napoleon  loved  Fer- 
dinand like  a  brother,  and  better  than  most  brothers;  and 
the  King  of  Spain  crossed  the  Bidassoa. 

Napoleon  did  receive  him  like  a  brother.  He  threw  his 
arms  round  Ferdinand's  neck,  kissed  him,  and  said  every- 
thing that  was  sweet  and  kind  and  flattering.  That  day 
the  emperor  sent  his  own  carriage  to  bring  Ferdinand  to 
dine  with  him,  received  him  at  the  foot  of  the  staircase, 
and  all  through  the  meal  paid  him  the  most  delicate  at- 
tentions. Ferdinand  went  home  in  high  spirits,  feeling 
that  the  emperor  was  a  true  friend.  He  had  scarcely  taken 
his  seat  in  his  own  parlor  when  General  Savary  was  an- 
nounced. The  general  entered  with  a  severe  face,  and 
made  a  very  short  speech. 

"  My  master,  the  emperor,"  said  he,  "  has  made  up  his 
mind.  You  must  immediately  resign  the  throne  of  Spain. 
He  proposes  to  put  one  of  his  own  family  on  that  throne." 


1807-1808]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIX  317 

And  afterwards  he  explained  that  if  Ferdinand  gave  no 
trouble,  a  small  throne  might  perhaps  be  found  for  him 
elsewhere. 

Ferdinand  was  dazed  at  first;  when  he  collected  himself, 
he  said  that  he  had  not  the  least  intention  of  giving  up  his 
throne.  Then,  said  Napoleon,  we  must  send  for  your 
father. 

You  will  better  understand  the  bitter  struggle  which  was 
now  beginning  if  I  give  you  some  notes  of  the  state  of 
Spain  from  a  book  written  at  this  time  by  the  Spanish  his- 
torian— Vargas  Ponce. 

He  said  that  Spain  had  generals  enough  to  command  the 
armies  of  the  world,  but  no  soldiers.  There  were  at  Ma- 
drid more  churches  than  houses,  more  priests  than  burghers, 
more  altars  than  kitchens.  Wax  figures  of  saints  lay  side 
by  side  with  robbers  and  bad  women.  Religious  proces- 
sions blocked  the  streets.  The  courts  of  law  were  busy 
night  and  day,  but  justice  was  not  to  be  had.  A  judge 
would  sentence  a  man  to  death  after  a  trial  of  twenty  min- 
utes, but  would  take  ten  years  to  decide  the  title  to  a  mule. 
Every  trade  was  a  monopoly;  the  seller  of  oil  could  not 
sell  wine,  the  seller  of  meat  could  not  sell  salt,  the  seller  of 
wine  could  not  sell  oil  or  meat  or  fruit;  none  of  them 
could  sell  oats  or  any  article  for  which  he  did  not  hold  a 
license.  Nobody  cared  to  have  regular  work.  A  true 
Spaniard  slept  so  many  hours  in  the  daytime,  no  matter  if 
he  had  nothing  to  eat  when  he  waked.  He  would  go  hungry 
to  a  bull-fight,  and  when  he  had  not  a  coin  in  his  pocket 
he  would  stand  in  the  street  and  beg  of  passers-by. 

The  proud  nobility  of  Spain  which  had  figured  so  grandly, 
as  you  remember,  in  the  history  of  the  old  days,  had  passed 
out  of  notice  at  this  time.  Very  few  of  them  served  in 
the  army,  and  still  fewer  in  high  employments  of  state. 
It  was  thought  to  be  the  correct  thing  for  grandees  and 
dukes  to  wait  on  the  king,  to  hand  him  his  shirt  when  he 
dressed,  and  to  hold  his  stirrup  when  he  mounted  his  horse; 
their  wives  combed  the  queen's  hair,  and  handed  her  her 


318  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1807-1808 

tooth-brush.  These  duties  were  all  they  cared  to  fulfil. 
Yet  the  property  owned  by  the  nobles  was  enormous. 
They  had  got  much  of  the  land  which  was  taken  from  the 
Jesuits,  and  they  did  not  know  how  to  cultivate  it.  Most 
of  it  lay  fallow.  They  were  lazy,  ignorant,  superstitious, 
and  perfectly  contented.  No  matter  what  the  king  or  the 
prime-minister  did,  they  had  no  objection  to  make. 

It  was  this  condition  of  Spain  and  the  Spanish  people 
which  made  Napoleon  think  he  could  easily  conquer  the 
country  and  annex  it  to  France.  He  said  to  himself  that 
an  imbecile  king,  an  ignorant  and  slothful  people,  a  besot- 
ted nobility,  and  a  rapacious  Church  could  not  defend  the 
country  against  his  veterans  if  they  were  directed  by  a 
mind  as  broad  as  his.  Unluckily  for  him,  and  happily  for 
Spain,  there  was  a  chord  in  the  Spanish  heart  which,  if 
touched,  could  still  rouse  the  people  to  energy — that  chord 
was  impatience  of  foreign  dominion.  The  Spaniard  would 
starve  or  beg  or  go  about  in  rags,  but  he  would  not  be 
the  slave  of  the  foreigner,  and  especially  of  the  Frenchman. 
He  was  ready  to  endure  the  rule  of  an  idiot,  so  long  as  he 
was  born  a  Spaniard;  but  he  would  rather  die  than  submit 
to  a  Frenchman,  however  able  or  virtuous  he  might  be. 
Napoleon  was  now  going  to  find  this  out. 


CHAPTER   XLVIII 

KING  JOSEPH 

A.D.  1808 

GENERAL  MURAT  lost  no  time  in  obeying  the  emperor's 
orders  to  send  King  Charles  and  his  wife  to  Bayonne. 
Napoleon  met  Charles  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and  sup- 
ported him  as  he  climbed  them,  on  which  the  old  doting 
king  cried  to  his  wife: 

"See,  Louisa,  he  is  carrying  me." 

Next  day  they  settled  down  to  business,  and  Napoleon 
easily  persuaded  the  weak  old  man  to  assign  to  the  em- 
peror his  rights  to  the  throne  of  Spain,  in  consideration 
of  a  palace  and  a  fat  income.  But  Ferdinand  was  still 
obstinate.  The  emperor  threatened  him,  his  father  bullied 
him,  but  he  stuck  to  his  determination  not  to  give  away 
his  throne.  Napoleon  had  resolved  to  have  it.  But  he 
wanted  to  get  it  under  cover  of  a  regular  transfer  from 
Ferdinand.  He  was  much  embarrassed,  and  was  revolving 
plans  in  his  mind,  when  news  came  that  there  had  been  a 
brush  between  the  French  troops  and  the  mob  at  Madrid 
in  which  some  lives  had  been  lost.  This  gave  the  emperor 
his  cue. 

He  bade  the  king  and  his  wife  pour  vollies  of  red-hot 
abuse  at  their  obstinate  son.  But  he  stayed  obstinate  in 
spite  of  the  names  they  called  him.  Napoleon  roared  at 
him,  shaking  his  fist  in  his  face,  and  screaming  that  the 
French  blood  which  had  been  shed  at  Madrid  put  a  new 
face  on  the  matter.  He  stamped  on  the  ground,  and  in 
round  words  bade  Ferdinand  choose  between  cession  and 
death. 

Of  course,  after  this,  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  ex- 


320  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1808 

cept  to  yield.  On  May  10th,  1808,  Ferdinand  signed  away 
his  throne  in  exchange  for  a  castle  in  France  and  six  hun- 
dred thousand  francs  a  year.  As  soon  as  he  had  signed, 
he,  his  father  and  his  mother,  were  carried  as  prisoners  to 
a  castle  in  the  heart  of  France,  and  kept  there  till  the  end 
of  the  war. 

Then  Napoleon  appointed  his  brother  Joseph,  who  had 
been  King  of  Naples,  King  of  Spain,  without  so  much  as 
asking  the  Spaniards  what  they  thought  about  it.  Joseph 
was  a  mild,  kindly  gentleman,  who  cared  much  more  about 
books  and  pictures  than  kingdoms;  he  begged  his  brother 
to  let  him  alone  and  choose  some  one  else.  But  Napoleon 
was  one  who  insisted  on  being  obej'ed.  Joseph  had  to 
yield,  and  he  prepared  to  take  possession  of  his  kingdom. 

Meanwhile,  Murat,  who  was  in  command  at  Madrid, 
managed  to  bring  about  a  conflict  between  his  army  and 
the  mob,  and  slaughtered  the  latter  in  the  most  cruel  way. 
The  poor  Spaniards  had  no  arms  and  no  discipline;  the 
French  mowed  them  down  with  grape  -  shot,  and  raked 
them  with  musketry  fire  when  they  escaped  into  the  side 
streets.  Murat  said  he  did  this  to  give  the  Spaniards  a 
lesson,  so  that  they  should  trouble  the  French  no  more. 
The  lesson  had  precisely  the  opposite  effect. 

In  every  province  of  Spain,  from  the  Pyrenees  to  the 
Mediterranean,  the  people  rose  against  the  invader.  They 
formed  in  each  province  what  they  called  a  Junta,  which 
was  a  standing  convention  of  the  leading  people  of  the 
province;  these  conventions  mustered  in  the  fighting  men, 
and  armed  them  as  they  could.  England,  which  was  at 
war  with  France,  sent  them  arms,  ammunition,  and  cloth- 
ing; with  these,  small  armies  were  equipped  and  prepared 
to  act  together. 

Meantime,  King  Joseph,  with  a  strong  force  at  his  back, 
crossed  the  Pyrenees  and  entered  Madrid.  Orders  had 
been  given  that  the  people  should  decorate  the  city  as 
usual  on  the  entry  of  a  king;  that  tapestries  should  be 
hung  from  the  windows,  peals  of  welcome  rung  on  the 


1808]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  321 

church -bells,  and  cheers  given  by  the  crowd.  Joseph 
was  disappointed.  There  were  few  people  in  the  streets, 
and  they  did  not  cheer;  nothing  but  dirty  old  rags  hung 
from  the  windows,  and  the  church-bells  tolled  mournfully. 

Upon  the  very  day  when  the  new  king  met  this  chilling 
reception  at  the  capital,  an  old  Spanish  soldier  named 
Castanos  fell  upon  a  French  army  under  General  Dupont, 
at  a  place  called  Baylen,  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra  Morena, 
and  utterly  defeated  it.  Dupont  surrendered  with  twenty 
thousand  men.  Castanos  had  agreed  that  the  prisoners 
might  return  to  their  own  country.  But  many  of  them 
were  Swiss  and  Poles  and  Germans;  they  enlisted  in  the 
Spanish  armies.  The  others,  I  am  afraid,  were  attacked 
by  the  furious  Spanish  peasantry  on  their  way  home,  and 
never  reached  France,  In  this  Spanish  war — where  one 
people  were  fighting  for  conquest  and  the  other  for  lib- 
erty— there  was  very  little  mercy  shown  on  either  side. 

As  soon  as  King  Joseph  got  the  news  of  the  battle  at 
Baylen  he  packed  his  trunk  and  left  for  home.  Madrid 
was  no  place  for  him.  It  was  beginning  to  thunder  all 
round. 

On  June  15th,  1808,  the  French  General  Lefebvre,  at  the 
head  of  a  fine  army,  marched  up  to  the  famous  old  town 
of  Saragossa,  which  had  stood  so  many  sieges,  and  sum- 
moned it  to  surrender.  As  it  had  only  an  old  wall  for 
all  defence,  he  did  not  expect  to  have  to  fight.  But  the 
old  blood  which  had  flowed  in  the  veins  of  the  Saragossans 
a  thousand  years  before  still  ran  red  and  hot;  they  bade  him 
come  and  take  the  town  if  he  wanted  it.  He  made  a  dash 
at  the  wall  and  was  beaten  back;  then  he  sent  for  rein- 
forcements and  invested  the  place. 

For  nearly  two  months  he  bombarded  Saragossa,  until 
nearly  every  house  was  battered  down,  and  the  people 
had  to  sleep  in  their  cellars.  But  they  defended  every 
house  and  every  wall,  even  when  the  French  had  got  into 
the  place,  and  at  last,  raging  at  losing  so  many  men  and 
making  such  little  headway,  Lefebvre  resolved  to  raise  the 
21 


322  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  or  SPAIN  [1808 

siege.  On  the  morning  of  August  14th,  when  the  Sara- 
gossans  got  up  to  renew  the  dreary  fighting,  they  saw  the 
enemy  in  a  distant  dust-cloud  marching  away  up  the  river. 
It  was  at  this  siege  that  Augustina,  the  Maid  of  Sara- 
gossa,  made  herself  famous.  She  was  a  cantine  girl,  who 
carried  wine  and  lemonade  round  to  the  soldiers  during 
the  bombardment.  Noticing  that  one  gun  was  silent,  the 
gunner  having  been  killed,  she  leaped  to  his  place,  and 
served  the  gun  to  the  end  of  the  day,  aiming  and  firing  it 
herself.  For  this  the  Government  of  Spain  made  her  a 
lieutenant,  and  gave  her  a  pension. 

"  Ye  who  shall  marvel  when  you  hear  her  tale, 
Oh  !  had  you  known  her  in  her  softer  hour, 
Marked  her  black  eye  that  mocks  her  coal-black  veil, 
Heard  her  light,  lively  tones  in  lady's  bower, 
Seen  her  long  locks  that  foil  the  painter's  power, 
Her  fairy  form  with  more  than  female  grace, 
Scarce  would  you  dream  that  Saragossa's  tower 
Beheld  her  smile  in  danger's  Gorgon  face, 
Thin  the  closed  ranks,  and  lead  in  glory's  fearful  cliase. 

"Her  lover  sinks— she  sheds  no  ill-timed  tear, 
Her  chief  is  slain — she  fills  his  fatal  post. 
Her  fellows  flee — she  cheeks  their  base  career, 
The  foe  retires — she  heads  the  sallying  host. 
Who  can  appease  like  her  a  lover's  ghost  ? 
Who  can  avenge  so  well  a  leader's  fall  ? 
What  maid  retrieve  when  man's  flush'd  hope  is  lost  ? 
Who  hang  so  fiercely  on  the  flying  Gaul, 
Foil'd  by  a  woman's  hand,  before  a  balter'd  wall  ?" 

« 
This  was  a  bad  beginning  for  the  French  conquest  of 

Spain.  But  the  man  who  had  planned  that  conquest  was 
not  one  to  abandon  his  projects  because  of  checks  at  the 
start.  The  Emperor  Napoleon  concentrated  two  hundred 
thousand  French  veterans  under  some  of  his  best  generals, 
and  flung  them  into  Spain.  On  November  8th  he  followed 
them  himself,  and  from  that  time,  for  several  years,  the 
Spaniards  won  no  more  victories.  Soult  and  Victor  de- 


1808]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  323 

stroyed  the  Spanish  armies  in  the  northwest.  The  army 
of  Aragon  and  Catalonia  was  scattered.  Saragossa  was 
besieged  again,  and  though  it  was  heroically  defended  by 
General  Palafox,  a  pestilence  broke  out  in  the  garrison,- 
and  it  had  to  surrender.  The  English,  who  had  landed 
armies  in  Portugal  and  Spain  to  oppose  the  French,  were 
forced  to  re-embark  them;  the  only  competent  general  they 
had,  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  who  afterwards  became  Duke 
of  Wellington,  having  been  recalled,  and  Sir  John  Moore, 
who  had  commanded  them,  having  fallen  in  the  battle  of 
Corunna. 

On  December  2d,  1808,  Napoleon  appeared  before  Ma- 
drid, and  summoned  it- to  surrender.  It  could  not  help  it- 
self. It  opened  its  gates.  Napoleon  was  very  angry.  He 
scolded  the  Spaniards  sharply. 

"What !"  said  he,  "I  give  you  a  king  of  your  own,  an 
excellent  king,  my  brother  Joseph,  and  you  are  not  satis- 
fied. If  vou  give  me  any  more  trouble,  I  will  give  you  no 
king  at  all,  and  will  govern  you  as  a  French  province." 

You  see,  nothing  could  convince  this  man  that  he  did 
not  own  the  earth. 

The  Spaniards  submitted,  and  for  five  years  Spain  was 
ruled  by  Joseph,  who  was  nothing  but  a  clerk  of  Na- 
poleon's. 


THE   FRENCH   IN   SPAIN 
A.D.   1808-1813 

JOSEPH  was  King  of  Spain  in  name,  if  not  in  fact,  from 
the  winter  of  1808-9  to  the  June  of  1813.  During  this  time 
there  never  was  an  hour  when  he  could  have  trusted  him- 
self in  the  smaller  towns  of  Spain  without  an  escort  of 
armed  men.  There  never  was  a  day  when  Spanish  hatred 
of  the  invaders  cooled,  or  when  the  Spanish  peasant  did 
not  go  to  bed  with  a  loaded  gun  by  his  side  to  shoot  any 
passing  Frenchman. 

From  first  to  last,  Napoleon  poured  into  Spain  some 
four  hundred  thousand  men,  under  the  ablest  generals  of 
his  army.  Of  these,  over  three  hundred  thousand  left  their 
bones  south  of  the  Pyrenees.  They  fought  bravely,  they 
were  well  led;  but,  as  they  well  knew,  they  were  engaged 
in  a  wrongful  and  mean  attempt  to  subvert  the  liberty 
of  a  neighboring  race,  and  their  enterprise  was  stamped 
with  failure  from  its  birth. 

The  Spaniards  had  no  army,  though  there  were  on  the 
national  pay-roll  five  captain-generals,  eighty-five  lieuten- 
ant-generals, one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  field-marshals, 
two  hundred  and  fifty-two  brigadiers,  and  two  thousand 
colonels.  All  over  the  country  there  were  small  bodies  of 
armed  men,  burning  to  fight  the  French,  but  led  by  gen- 
erals who  could  not  agree  with  each  other,  and  would  not 
act  together  against  the  common  enemy.  These  generals 
were  under  the  orders  of  Juntas,  which  met  in  the  several 
provinces,  and  the  Juntas  could  not  agree  any  better  than 
the  generals.  You  will  be  surprised  to  hear  that  no  great 
man  arose  —  as  generally  happens  on  such  occasions — to 


1808-1813]  A    CHILD'S    HISTORY    OF    SPAIN  325 

take  command  of  the  Spanish  nation.  No  Spanish  Wash- 
ington or  Bolivar  or  Cromwell  grasped  the  hour  in  an 
iron  hand. 

But  if  there  was  no  great  Spanish  army  under  a  great 
general,  the  country  swarmed  with  free  -  shooters,  who 
murdered  Frenchmen,  and  fought  bravely  enough  when 
driven  to  bay.  The  towns  were  full  of  cruel  mobs, 
which  sometimes  fell  upon  French  prisoners  furiously  and 
savagely,  and  who,  when  the  French  got  the  upperhand, 
were  themselves  furiously  and  savagely  punished.  At 
Valencia,  a  horrible  wretch  named  Calvo  induced  a  party 
of  poor  French  prisoners  to  try  to  escape,  by  telling  them 
that  a  plot  had  been  formed  to  assassinate  them.  As  soon 
as  they  got  clear  of  the  prison  wall,  and  were  creeping 
stealthily  towards  the  trees  they  could  just  see  in  the  still, 
dark  night,  Calvo  and  his  band  fell  upon  them  and  made 
an  end  of  them.  Calvo  was  afterwards  caught  by  the 
authorities,  and  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  Minorca.  I  be- 
lieve he  was  forgotten  there.  At  least,  nobody  seemed 
to  know  what  had  become  of  him,  and  I  am  not  surprised 
at  it. 

In  those  days,  when  King  Joseph  was  sitting  on  an  im- 
aginary throne  at  Madrid,  and  French  generals  were  exer- 
cising very  real  authority  at  Barcelona  and  Burgos  and 
Cordova  and  Toledo  and  Granada  and  Salamanca  and 
Valladolid,  the  air  was  always  full  of  whispers  of  treason. 
It  was  death  to  be  suspected  of  siding  with  the  French, 
and  many  a  poor  Spaniard  lost  his  head  because  some 
enemy  accused  him  of  corresponding  with  the  invaders. 

That  was  the  charge  which  was  brought  against  a  burgher 
of  Catalonia.  The  mob  insisted  on  seeing  his  mail-bag 
opened,  in  order  to  get  hold  of  the  letters  which  they  said 
they  knew  he  was  getting  from  France.  His  daughter,  a 
straight,  black-haired,  black-eyed  girl,  said  she  would  open 
the  bag  in  their  presence.  She  did  so,  and  when  she  came 
to  one  letter,  she  hastily  tore  it  up  and  swallowed  the 
pieces.  Some  one  cried,  "  The  little  devil  has  fooled  us." 


326  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1808-1813 

She  pressed  her  hand  to  her  side,  and  a  scarlet  blush 
spread  over  her  face  as  she  answered: 

"  Did  you  think  I  would  let  you  see  a  letter  from  my 
lover?"  * 

And  so  her  father  was  saved — for  that  time. 

On  April  22d,  1809,  Wellington  arrived  in  Portugal 
with  a  small  army  of  English  soldiers.  The  English  had 
made  up  their  minds  that  the  fight  to  a  finish  between  the 
emperor  and  themselves  might  just  as  well  be  fought  in 
Spain  as  elsewhere.  They  sent  their  best  general  there, 
and  bade  him  try  to  make  an  army  out  of  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  peasants  who  were  fighting  as  guerillas  in  the 
mountains.  These  were  not  the  best  possible  material; 
they  were  not  accustomed  to  obey.  It  was  contrary  to  their 
custom  to  spare  a  fallen  foe.  But  they  were  brave  as  steel, 
and  could  march  great  distances  almost  without  food. 

Wellington  succeeded  in  getting  them  in  shape;  mixing 
them  with  his  English  troops,  he  built  up  a  very  tolerable 
army  —  so  good  in  fact,  that,  though  the  French  always 
had  more  men  in  Spain  than  he  had,  he  never  fought  a 
battle  till  he  was  ready,  and  never  fought  a  battle  which 
he  lost.  When  he  wasn't  sure  of  winning  he  wouldn't 
fight,  and  the  French  couldn't  make  him. 

It  would  fatigue  you  if  I  described  these  battles.  It 
will  be  enough  to  tell  you  of  the  last,  the  battle  of  Vit- 
toria,  which  was  the  decisive  battle  of  the  war. 

In  May,  1813,  King  Joseph  made  up  his  mind  that  the 
time  had  come  for  him  to  run  away  once  more.  He  levied 
a  tremendous  tax  on  all  the  towns  and  villages  he  could 
reach,  and  packed  the  silver  and  gold  in  wagons  and  coun- 
try carts.  He  stripped  the  churches  of  their  pictures  and 
their  gold  and  silver  plate.  He  took  ornaments  and 
jewels  and  works  of  art  wherever  he  found  them.  With 
this  plunder,  and  his  guns  and  ammunition,  and  with  a 
large  party  of  gay  ladies  of  his  court,  he  started  north  at 
the  head  of  the  remnant  of  his  army — about  seventy  thou- 
sand men — and  got  as  far  as  Vittoria  on  June  20th. 


1808-1813]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  327 

He  had  not  been  gone  from  Madrid  for  many  hours  be- 
fore AVellington  was  on  the  march  with  about  a  hundred 
thousand  men  to  intercept  him.  He  knew  exactly  where 
Joseph  was  going,  and  what  route  he  would  take.  On  the 
morning  of  June  20th  the  Spanish  scouts  reported  that 
the  French  had  crossed  the  mountain,  and  were  spreading 
over  the  basin  of  Vittoria,  which  is  a  pretty  level  plain 
about  ten  miles  long  by  eight  miles  wide,  enclosed  on  three 
sides  by  spurs  of  the  Pyrenees  and  low  ranges  of  hills. 

Wellington  made  his'  plans  that  night,  and  before  the 
French  knew  that  he  was  near,  in  the  gray  dawn  of  the 
misty  morning  of  June  21,  the  English  soldiers  in  their 
scarlet  coats,  the  Dutch  and  Spaniards  in  blue  and  dark- 
brown,  came  climbing  up  the  mountain,  scampered  down 
on  the  other  side,  and  burst  their  way  through  copses  of 
chestnut,  oak,  and  cork  trees,  in  which  birds  were  singing 
merrily,  and  the  little  river  Zadorra  was  leaping  and  bound- 
ing from  jag  to  crag  on  its  way  to  the  Ebro.  In  front  of 
them,  through  the  morning  haze,  belated  wagons  of  King 
Joseph's  army  were  seen  raising  dust-clouds  on  the  road  to 
Vittoria.  In  the  distance  were  the  French  tents  scattered 
on  both  sides  of  the  roads  to  Bayonne  in  France,  and  to 
Pampeluna  in  old  Navarre,  while  near  the  horizon  the  silver 
Ebro  rolled  peacefully  to  the  ocean. 

Wellington  had  circled  round  the  French,  and  though 
they  fought  bravely,  as  they  always  do,  they  were  so 
hampered  by  the  multitude  of  wagons  and  useless  camp 
furniture  that  they  could  hardly  form  in  line  of  battle,  and 
the  morning  was  still  young  when  they  knew  they  were 
beaten.  The  defeat  soon  became  a  retreat,  and  the  retreat 
a  rout.  King  Joseph  gave  the  word  to  take  the  Pampe- 
luna road,  and  it  was  soon  so  blocked  that  the  French  had 
to  cover  their  rear  with  fifty  cannon  to  protect  the  flying 
army. 

As  it  was,  they  lost  almost  everything.  King  Joseph 
lost  his  carriage,  in  which  there  was  a  picture  he  had 
stolen,  his  clean  clothes,  and  his  purse;  when  he  got  to 


328  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1808-1813 

Pampeluna  he  had  but  one  coin  in  his  pocket.  Welling- 
ton captured  a  hundred  and  fifty-one  bi'ass  cannon,  and 
small-arms  and  ammunition-chests  past  counting.  In  the 
army-chest  were  five  million  and  a  half  dollars  in  gold  and 
silver.  Joseph  did  not  save  a  dollar.  His  officers  and 
soldiers  seem  to  have  lost  their  money  too,  for  after  the 
battle  the  ground  was  covered  with  coins,  for  which  the 
English  and  Spanish  troops  soon  found  use. 

I  have  told  you  that  when  Joseph  left  Madrid  a  number 
of  fine  ladies — and  some  ladies  who  were  not  so  fine — went 
in  his  company,  reckoning  on  a  pleasant  jaunt  to  France. 
Some  of  these  were  left  behind  when  the  army  fled.  They 
were  placed  under  escort,  and  in  a  day  or  two  a  few  were 
sent  home  in  their  own  carriages.  Others  followed  the 
troops,  riding  on  artillery  wagons  or  behind  troopers  on 
their  horses.  These  threw  away  everything  that  could 
impede  their  flight.  Thus,  the  victors  found  the  battle- 
field strewn  with  velvet  and  silk  brocade  dresses,  gold  and 
silver  plate,  pictures,  jewels,  laces,  cases  of  fine  wine,  poo- 
dles, parrots,  monkeys,  French  boots,  books  of  devotion, 
and  novels. 

The  common  soldiers  reaped  such  a  harvest  of  plunder 
that  some  eight  thousand  men  were  absent  from  duty  for 
several  days  after  the  battle,  and  were  found  carousing  in 
the  village  with  the  proceeds  of  the  spoil. 

This  was  the  end  of  the  attempt  of  Napoleon  to  conquer 
Spain,  and  it  was,  I  think,  the  chief  cause  of  his  downfall. 


CHAPTER   L 

FERDIXAXD  THE  SEVENTH 
A.D.  1814-1833 

BEFORE  the  French  were  driven  out  of  Spain,  the  people 
had  elected  a  Cortes  to  frame  a  new  constitution  based  on 
popular  liberty.  The  work  had  been  done,  and  well  done. 
It  abolished  the  Inquisition,  and  took  away  the  privileges 
of  the  nobles.  It  provided  for  a  king  who  should  govern 
according  to  law;  and  the  Spaniards  had  no  objection  to 
Ferdinand  being  that  king. 

Ever  since  he  assigned  his  throne  to  Napoleon  he  had 
been  a  prisoner  in  a  castle  in  central  France.  He  was  not 
in  close  confinement.  He  could  ride  and  drive  through  the 
grounds  about  the  castle,  could  entertain  his  friends,  and 
amuse  himself  at  any  game  he  pleased,  except  playing  king. 
Now  that  Napoleon  appeared  to  be  going  downhill,  he 
claimed  the  throne  which  he  had  abdicated  five  years  be- 
fore. Napoleon  said  he  might  have  it  and  welcome. 

On  March  20th,  1814,  he  re-entered  Spain,  and  read  for 
the  first  time  the  constitution  which  the  Cortes  had  framed 
in  his  absence.  It  was  not  to  his  liking,  and  he  said  so. 
The  priests  of  Catalonia  and  Navarre  said  it  was  not  to 
their  liking  either.  They  got  crowds  of  ignorant  peasants 
to  shout: 

"  Down  with  the  constitution  !  Let  us  have  an  absolute 
king  !  Long  live  King  Ferdinand !" 

On  the  strength  of  this  expression  of  public  opinion, 
King  Ferdinand  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  that  all 
the  acts  of  the  Cortes,  including  the  framing  of  the  consti- 
tution, and  the  decree  abolishing  the  Inquisition,  were  null 
and  void,  and  that  everything  must  be  put  back  on  the  old 


330  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SI»AIX          [1814-1833 

footing.  Gathering  round  him  a  band  of  soldiers,  he 
marched  to  Madrid.  Most  of  the  members  of  the  Cortes 
had  fled  to  Cadiz  ;  those  who  remained  he  locked  up  in 
jail,  and  afterwards  sent  to  the  galleys,  or  forced  to  serve 
as  privates  in  the  army.  He  restored  the  Inquisition,  re- 
called the  Jesuits  and  gave  them  control  of  the  schools, 
and  proclaimed  that  any  one  who  spoke  ill  of  him  or  of 
his  government  should  be  put  to  death.  The  Spaniards 
began  to  think  they  had  not  gained  much  by  driving  out 
the  French. 

You  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  Ferdinand's  be- 
havior led  to  revolts.  Riots  broke  out  at  Valencia,  Barce- 
lona, and  Cadiz  ;  while  New  Castile,  Estrernadura,  and 
Andalusia  began  to  get  ready  for  rebellion  in  the  old  way. 
The  contagion  spread  and  spread  from  one  province  to 
another,  from  one  city  to  the  next,  until  all  Spain  was  ripe 
for  explosion,  and  only  needed  a  spark.  Then  the  craven 
king  crept  into  a  corner  and  issued  a  proclamation  conven- 
ing the  Cortes,  and  promising  to  do  everything  that  Mras 
wanted  by  his  people,  "  who  have  given  me  so  many  proofs 
of  their  loyalty."  This  was  in  March,  1820. 

The  Cortes  met.  Many  of  its  members  were  taken  out 
of  the  jails  where  the  king  had  shut  them  up.  Others 
were  persons  whom  he  had  threatened  with  death.  It  re- 
stored the  constitution  of  1812,  again  abolished  the  Inquisi- 
tion and  expelled  the  Jesuits;  then,  as  the  chief  obstacle  to 
good  government  in  Spain  was  want  of  money  in  the  treas- 
ury, it  suppressed  all  monasteries  and  convents  but  eight, 
and  confiscated  their  property  to  the  service  of  the  State. 
King  Ferdinand  at  first  refused  to  sign  the  decree  for  this, 
but  when  a  crowd  surrounded  his  palace,  and  he  was  told 
that  the  troops  were  of  the  same  mind  as  the  people,  he 
signed  it,  and  ran  away  to  the  Escurial. 

In  the  gloomy  shades  of  that  dismal  abode  lie  planned 
a  coup-cfetat,  and  secretly  appointed  a  general  whom  he 
could  trust,  named  Carbajal,  to  the  post  of  captain-general, 
with  supreme  command  of  the  troops.  The  Cortes  found 


GOING  TO  MARKET 


1814-1833]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  333 

out  what  he  had  done,  and  sent  a  committee  to  the  Es- 
curial  to  warn  him.  He  fell  into  abject  terror,  removed 
Carbajal,  and  asked  the  committee  if  his  life  would  be  safe 
in  Madrid.  Thither  he  returned,  trembling  and  quaking; 
his  knees  shook  so  that  he  could  hardly  walk  up  the  stairs 
of  his  palace,  and,  with  a  haggard  face,  he  locked  himself 
in  his  room.  A  day  or  two  afterwards,  when  he  tried  to 
drive  out,  the  mob  stoned  his  carriage,  and  he  had  to  re- 
turn home. 

A  time  followed  when  there  was  really  no  government 
in  Spain,  and  Madrid  was  in  the  shocking  condition  to 
which  Napoleon  had  put  an  end  in  Paris.  There  was  a 
king  whom  everybody  despised.  There  was  a  Cortes 
which  was  as  incapable  of  governing  as  the  French  As- 
sembly had  been.  There  were  a  number  of  clubs  which 
undertook  to  dictate  to  the  king  and  the  Cortes.  And 
above  all,  there  was  a  mob  of  brutal,  blood-thirsty  miscre- 
ants whom  the  troops  sometimes  fired  upon  and  sometimes 
sympathized  with. 

There  was  a  poor  half-crazy  priest,  who  wrote  a  pam- 
phlet against  liberty;  he  was  arrested  for  it,  and  condemned 
to  ten  years'  imprisonment.  But  the  mob  were  not  satisfied. 
They  thought  he  should  have  been  more  severely  punished. 
They  tore  him  out  of  jail,  with  shouts  of  "Blood  !  blood !" 

The  poor  priest,  holding  a  crucifix  high  above  his  head, 
begged  his  life  in  the  name  of  the  Redeemer. 

The  mob  rushed  upon  him,  and  the  leader  beat  his 
brains  out  with  a  hammer. 

You  may  perhaps  not  be"  so  much  shocked  at  this,  when 
you  remember  that  all  mobs  are  brutal  and  blood-thirsty. 
But  the  newspapers  of  Madrid  applauded  the  murder  of 
the  priest,  the  Cortes  called  it  a  noble  deed,  and  the  city 
rabble  formed  a  club  to  commemorate  it  under  the  name 
of  the  Order  of  the  Hammer.  Curses  were  coming  home  to 
roost  indeed. 

In  the  turmoil  a  gallant  general  named  Murillo  loomed 
up,  and  put  down  mobs  with  the  bayonet  wherever  he 


334  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN          [1814-183^ 

found  them.  But  he  could  not  be  everywhere.  There  was 
a  dreadful  monk,  who  was  known  as  the  Trappist,  who 
mustered  an  army  of  peasants,  and  made  war  upon  the 
army  of  the  Cortes  with  terrible  vigor  and  savage  cruelty. 
Seville  and  Cadiz  set  up  a  government  of  their  own,  and 
declared  war  upon  the  government  at  Madrid.  The  Cortes 
at  Madrid  ordered  its  troopers  to  give  no  quarter  to  the 
rebels.  The  Junta  at  Cadiz  commanded  its  troops  to  kill 
their  prisoners  after  every  battle.  The  gutters  of  the  cities 
of  Spain  ran  with  blood,  and  there  was  no  money  any- 
where to  buy  food.  All  this  time  the  miserable  king 
wandered  from  place  to  place,  wringing  his  hands,  and 
asking  every  one  what  he  should  do. 

He  found  out  at  last.  He  persuaded  the  King  of 
France,  who  hated  liberty  as  much  as  he  did,  to  send  an 
army  into  Spain  under  the  Duke  of  Angouleme.  You 
know  how  the  Spaniards  loved  the  French,  and  you  can 
fancy  how  pleased  the  former  were  to  hear  that  their  old 
foes  had  come  to  keep  them  in  order.  The  duke,  at  the 
head  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men,  swept  down 
through  northern  Spain,  and  took  Madrid  without  resist- 
ance, king  and  Cortes  having  gone  first  to  Seville,  then  to 
Cadiz.  It  did  not  take  the  French  long  to  capture  the 
latter  place,  and  then,  with  every  show  of  respect,  they 
proceeded  to  restore  Ferdinand  to  his  throne.  He  assured 
the  Cortes  and  its  friends  on  leaving  Cadiz  that  he  bore 
no  malice,  and  that  they  could  trust  to  him.  But  when 
their  backs  were  turned,  he  shook  his  fist  and  muttered, 
"  They  will  see  !  they  will  see  !" 

And  they  did  see.  The  most  gallant  and  noble-hearted 
of  the  popular  leaders  was  General  Riego.  He  was  ar- 
rested, and  put  on  his  trial.  The  lawyers  were  such  cow- 
ards that  not  one  of  them  dared  to  defend  him.  He  was 
found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged,  which  in  Spain 
is  considered  an  ignominious  form  of  death.  He  was 
stripped  of  his  uniform,  and  draped  in  a  white  cloth,  with 
a  cap  of  liberty  on  his  head.  His  hands  were  tied  behind 


1814-1833] 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN 


335 


his  back,  and  he  was  set  on  a  hurdle,  which  was  drawn  to 
the  place  of  execution  by  an  ass,  while  a  row  of  priests 


A   STREET   BARBER  OPERATING   ON   A   CUSTOMER 

marched  beside  the  ass  chanting  the  service  for  the  dead. 
The  gibbet  was  so  high  that  Riego  had  to  be  hauled  up  to 
the  scaffold.  There  the  rope  was  passed  round  his  neck, 


336  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1814-1833 

and  as  it  was  cut  by  the  executioner  a  bystander  smote 
him  on  the  cheek  with  his  fist. 

The  French  troops  remained  five  or  six  years  in  Spain, 
and  while  they  were  there  there  were  no  more  riots. 
Ferdinand  ruled  according  to  his  own  sweet  will.  As  he 
grew  old,  he  began  to  be  troubled  about  the  succession  to 
the  throne.  He  had  been  married  three  times,  but  had  no 
children.  In  1829  he  married  once  more,  the  bride  this 
time  being  Christina  of  Naples.  In  October,  1830,  she 
gave  birth  to  a  girl-baby,  who  was  christened  Isabella.  It 
had  at  one  time  been  the  law  that  a  woman  could  not  reign 
in  Spain;  but  both  Charles  the  Fourth  and  Ferdinand  had 
issued  what  they  called  pragmatic  sanctions,  declaring  that 
females  could  succeed  to  the  throne  as  well  as  males. 

Against  this  decision  Ferdinand's  brother  now  pro- 
tested, and  bullied  the  king  till  he  revoked  his  decree  and 
declared  that  Carlos  was  the  heir,  and  not  the  girl-baby. 
As  soon  as  Carlos's  back  was  turned  Ferdinand  changed  his 
mind,  as  he  often  did,  and  said  that  Isabella  was  the  right- 
ful heir.  When  Carlos  heard  of  it,  he  started  for  Madrid 
to  make  the  king  change  his  mind  once  more.  Unluckily 
for  the  former,  before  he  reached  the  capital  city  Ferdinand 
died,  and  Isabella  was  proclaimed.  The  disappointment 
of  Don  Carlos  led  to  a  long  and  bloody  war,  of  which  I 
will  tell  you  something  in  a  future  chapter. 

There  may  have  been  worse  kings  of  Spain  than  the 
one  whose  reign  came  to  a  close  on  September  29th,  1833, 
but  I  cannot  recall  any  one  of  them  who  did  so  much  injury 
to  his  country  as  Ferdinand  the  Seventh. 


CHAPTER  LI 

THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  COLONIES 
A.D.  1810-1822 

WHEN  Ferdinand  the  Seventh  came  to  the  throne, 
Mexico,  Central  America,  several  of  the  West  India  isl- 
ands, and  all  of  South  America,  except  Brazil,  belonged  to 
Spain.  When  he  died,  nothing  was  left  to  Spain  but  Cuba 
and  Porto  Rico. 

The  successful  revolt  of  the  British  colonies  against 
England  set  the  people  of  the  Spanish  colonies  to  thinking; 
when  convulsions  spread  through  Europe  after  the  French 
revolution,  and  during  the  reign  of  Napoleon,  the  thinking 
was  of  independence.  When  Ferdinand  sold  his  birthright 
to  Napoleon  for  a  castle  and  a  pension,  the  Spanish  Ameri- 
cans said  to  each  other  that  he  should  not  sell  them.  They 
had,  moreover,  grievances  of  their  own.  They  were  heavily 
taxed  for  the  benefit  of  Spain.  They  were  not  allowed  to 
buy  goods  of  any  nation  but  Spain.  And  all  the  offices  in 
Spanish  America  were  filled  by  natives  of  Spain.  There 
were  Spanish  garrisons  in  the  strong  places,  and  Spanish 
priests  in  the  churches;  the  Inquisition  was  in  full  feather, 
and  good  Catholics  in  America,  as  well  as  in  Europe,  were 
beginning  to  think  it  was  not  as  grand  an  institution  as  they 
had  once  supposed.  As  in  Spain,  the  Church  had  got  most 
of  the  property  in  Spanish  America  into  its  hands.  It  was, 
in  fact,  the  ruler  of  the  country.  In  all  Spanish  America 
the  priests  would  not  allow  one  Protestant  church  to  be 
opened. 

The  first  gun  was  fired  in  Mexico.  In  the  year  1810, 
Miguel  Hidalgo,  a  Spanish  priest  of  Dolores,  in  the  State 
of  Guanaxuato,  raised  the  standard  of  rebellion.  He  was  a 
22 


338  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN          [isio-1822 

white-haired  man  of  fifty -eight,  tall  and  stout,  with  a 
strong  face  and  powerful  limbs;  a  man  who  had  been  a 
reader  and  a  thinker,  and  who  had  satisfied  himself  that 
Mexico  ought  to  cut  loose  from  Spain.  He  called  his  peo- 
ple to  arms,  mustered  quite  a  large  army,  beat  the  govern- 
ment troops  in  several  battles,  took  city  after  city,  and  had 
nearly  attained  his  purpose  when  fortune  forsook  him.  He 
was  not  a  soldier,  and  after  a  time  he  began  to  lose  battles. 
Then  his  men  deserted  him.  His  officers  were  captured. 
The  Spanish  officials  hunted  him  hotly,  and  in  March,  1811, 
they  caught  him. 

He  was  shackled  hand  and  foot,  and  carried  on  a  mule 
to  Chihuahua.  After  his  trial,  which  you  may  be  sure  did 
not  puzzle  the  judges  much,  he  was  made  to  kneel,  and  his 
priestly  garments  were  torn  from  his  back.  Then  he  was 
shackled  again.  Before  daylight  on  the  morning  of  July 
31st  he  was  taken,  limping  from  his  irons,  into  the  back 
yard  of  the  prison,  and  set  in  front  of  a  platoon  of  soldiers. 
He  laid  his  hand  upon  his  heart.  But  they  missed  it,  and 
three  shots  had  to  be  fired  into  his  body  after  he  had  fallen 
to  make  an  end  of  the  old  hero. 

When  he  died  another  priest  named  Josd  Morelos  arose 
to  take  his  place,  and  for  three  or  four  years  led  the  insur- 
gents with  success.  At  one  time  all  southern  Mexico,  in- 
cluding the  City  of  Mexico  and  Vera  Cruz,  was  in  his 
hands.  He  was  a  daring  leader,  who  never  counted  odds. 
The  common  people  adored  him.  On  one  occasion  a  young 
lady  who  had  a  sweetheart  serving  under  him  was  caught 
sending  letters  and  money  to  her  lover,  and  for  this  was 
locked  up  in  a  convent,  with  a  fine  chance  of  losing  her 
head.  A  party  of  Morelos's  young  men  got  together  one 
night,  dashed  up  to  the  convent,  broke  open  the  doors, 
tore  the  young  lady  out  of  her  prison,  and  carried  her  off 
to  the  camp  where  her  sweetheart  was  on  duty. 

But  the  Spanish  authorities  now  mustered  into  their  serv- 
ice a  young  soldier  named  Iturbide,  who  was  quite  as 
dashing  as  Morelos,  and  more  skilful  in  the  business  of 


1810-1822]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  339 

war.  He  took  the  priest's  conquests  from  him  one  by  one, 
separated  his  forces,  and  beat  them  in  detail.  Gradually 
he  drove  the  rebels  into  the  mountains,  and  there,  in  a 
range  not  far  from  the  City  of  Mexico,  he  at  last,  in 
November,  1815,  penned  up  Morelos  in  a  glen  without  an 
outlet.  As  the  Spanish  cavalry  galloped  up,  Morelos  dis- 
mounted to  take  off  his  spurs  so  as  to  climb  the  mountain 
on  foot. 

"  Surrender !"  shouted  the  leader  of  the  cavalry. 

"Ha!"  replied  Morelos,  taking  his  cigar  from  his  lips, 
"  Sefior  Carranco,  we  meet  again." 

He  met  the  usual  fate.  His  gown  was  stripped  from  his 
shoulders,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  die.  The  Inquisition 
jailer — think  how  times  had  changed! — offered  to  let  him 
escape.  But  he  declined,  saying, 

"  God  forbid  that  I  should  imperil  your  innocent  family 
to  prolong  my  own  life." 

On  the  execution-ground  he  prayed: 

"Lord,  thou  knowest  if  I  have  done  well;  if  I  have  done 
ill,  I  implore  Thy  mercy!" 

As  he  knelt  to  meet  his  end,  he  was  shot  in  the  back. 

The  war  lasted  five  years  more,  the  advantage  being 
always  on  the  side  of  the  royalists.  The  insurgents  were 
driven  from  place  to  place,  their  chiefs  executed,  their 
friends  thrown  into  prison.  In  1820  the  rebellion  looked 
as  if  it  was  thoroughly  ended.  It  was  just  at  that  very 
moment  that  it  triumphed.  The  story  is  quite  curious. 

General  Agostin  Iturbide,  of  whom  I  have  told  you,  had 
fallen  out  with  the  Spanish  viceroy,  had  thrown  up  his 
command,  had  travelled  abroad,  and  on  his  return  had 
lived  quietly  on  a  ranch.  He  now  formed  a  plan  to  play 
in  Mexico  the  part  which  Napoleon  played  in  France.  He 
suddenly  sought  and  got  command  of  the  troops,  under 
pretence  of  stamping  out  the  last  embers  of  the  revolution. 
Putting  a  long  distance  between  him  and  the  viceroy,  he 
opened  negotiations  with  the  remaining  rebel  chiefs,  and 
got  them  to  join  him  with  their  forces.  The  news  spread 


340  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  [1810-1822 

far  and  wide  that  the  great  general  who  had  led  the  Span- 
iards was  now  on  the  side  of  the  patriots,  and  Mexicans 
who  had  given  up  the  struggle  as  hopeless  sprang  to  arms 
once  more. 

Iturbide  soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  force  which 
it  would  have  been  folly  to  resist.  He  marched  to  the 
City  of  Mexico  without  striking  a  blow,  and  General 
O'Donoju,  who  represented  Spain,  agreed  to  evacuate  the 
country.  Iturbide  entered  the  city  on  September  2Vth, 
1821,  and  proclaimed  the  independence  of  Mexico. 

I  may  as  well  tell  you  here — though  it  is  not  part  of  the 
history  of  Spain — that  eight  months  after  he  proclaimed 
the  independence  of  the  Mexican  republic,  Iturbide  de- 
clared himself  emperor.  He  was  overthrown  in  less  than  a 
year,  and  ordered  to  leave  the  country,  being  warned  that 
if  he  returned  it  would  be  at  his  peril.  He  did  return,  and 
the  colonel  in  charge  of  the  port  where  he  landed  had  him 
shot  without  consulting  his  superior  officers. 

The  only  other  story  of  the  independence  of  the  Spanish 
colonies  which  you  would  care  to  hear  is  that  of  Bolivar. 
Originally,  the  province  of  Peru  included  Chili,  Paraguay, 
Buenos  Ayres,  Ecuador,  New  Granada,  and  Venezuela. 
These  several  states  gradually  separated,  and  had  viceroys 
of  their  own.  In  1810  and  1811,  just  at  the  time  when 
Mexico  began  to  strike  for  independence,  Chili  and  Vene- 
zuela did  the  same;  and  New  Granada  and  Ecuador  fol- 
lowed the  lead  of  their  neighbor  Venezuela.  For  several 
years  the  royalist  troops  were  able  to  put  down  the  insur- 
rections. But  at  last  there  arose  in  Venezuela  a  leader 
who  belonged  to  the  kind  of  men  that  win. 

This  was  Simon  Bolivar,  a  native  of  Caracas,  and  a  colo- 
nel in  the  army;  he  was  then  thirty-two  years  old.  He 
had  no  regular  army  and  no  money.  But  he  had  grit  and 
genius;  and  after  a  war  of  nearly  seven  years,  he  met  the 
royalists  in  a  pitched  battle  at  a  place  called  Bocaya,  on 
September  19th,  1819,  and  defeated  them  so  thoroughly 
that  they  agreed  to  evacuate  the  country. 


1810-1822]  A  CHILD'S  HISTOKY  OF  SPAIN  341 

Then  he  crossed  over  into  New  Granada,  and  set  that 
State  and  Ecuador  free,  too;  and  he  gave  the  Spanish 
Americans  of  South  America  such  heart  that  Chili  won 
her  independence  likewise;  and  Buenos  Ayres,  which  is 
now  the  Argentine  Confederation,  was  not  long  in  follow- 
ing suit.  Even  Peru,  which  was  the  slowest  to  move, 
joined  the  procession  at  last,  and  the  Spanish  flag  disap- 
peared from  South  America. 

When  Bolivar  returned  to  his  capital,  after  securing  the 
independence  of  his  country,  he  was  called  "  The  Liber- 
ator," and  was  unanimously  elected  president.  He  per- 
formed his  duties  well  and  faithfully,  but  at  the  close  of 
his  term  he  refused  a  re-election.  The  president  who  was 
chosen  in  his  place  did  not  please  the  Venezuelans,  and 
they  begged  Bolivar  to  take  office  again.  But  he  would 
not.  They  entreated  him,  saying  that  they  would  elect 
him  whether  he  chose  or  not.  Then  he  left  the  country, 
assuring  the  people  that  there  were  many  men  as  capable 
of  being  president  as  he,  and  that  he  would  not  be  accused 
of  having  been  led  by  ambition  in  what  he  had  done. 

After  a  time,  he  returned  to  Venezuela,  and  found  politi- 
cal strife  hot  between  rival  parties.  He  labored  faithfully 
to  reconcile  them,  and  succeeded.  But  some  small-souled 
creatures  accused  him  of  having  been  actuated  by  base 
motives  in  what  he  had  done,  and  their  gibes  wounded  him 
to  the  heart.  He  was  fifty  years  old,  had  spent  his  life  in 
active  work  and  warfare,  and  was  broken  down.  He  with- 
drew to  his  farm,  and  there  moaned  and  writhed  under  the 
injustice  of  his  countrymen,  until  his  constitution  gave 
way,  and  he  died. 

I  do  not  think  that  this  Child's  History  has  ever  had  to 
deal  with  a  purer,  honester,  and  braver  man  than  Simon 
Bolivar. 

There  is  one  little  story  about  him,  which  may  give  you 
a  side-light  upon  the  man,  and  the  people  who  lived  with 
him. 

Somewhere  in  Venezuela  there  was  a  statue  of  the 


342  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN          [1810-1822 

Virgin,  which  was  much  thought  of,  because,  at  one  time, 
when  King  Ferdinand  was  sick,  a  good  woman  had  prayed 
to  the  statue  for  his  recovery,  and  lie,  when  he  did  recover, 
repaid  the  service  by  sending  the  statue  a  golden  crown. 
The  statue  became  so  famous  after  this  that  the  Spanish 
women,  when  in  sorrow,  used  to  kneel  before  it  and  chant 
their  plaintive  wail,  which  is  so  simple  that  I  think  you 
can  understand  it,  though  it  is  not  in  English.  It  runs — 

Santa  Maria, 
Madre  de  Dios, 
Madre  de  gratia, 
Madre  purissima, 
Madre  castissima. 

One  day,  the  priest  of  the  church  in  which  the  statue 
stood  observed,  to  his  horror,  that  its  crown  was  gone. 
Hue  and  cry  was  at  once  started,  and  pretty  soon  it  was 
found  that  the  crown  had  been  taken  by  a  young  soldier 
named  Manuel.  The  archbishop  hastened  to  Bolivar,  de- 
nounced the  thief,  and  demanded  his  punishment.  The 
liberator  was  shocked.  Manuel  was  one  of  his  favorite 
soldiers,  a  young  man  of  great  promise.  But  sacrilege 
was  the  most  heinous  of  all  crimes,  punishable  with  death, 
and,  according  to  the  old  law,  with  torture  besides. 

A  court  was  convened,  and  Manuel  was  brought  before 
the  general,  by  whose  side  sat  the  archbishop. 

"  Didst  thou  steal  the  crown  ?"  roared  Bolivar. 

"I  did,  general;  I  cannot  deny  it.  I  did.  The  way  of 
it  was  this:  When  I  got  home  from  our  last  campaign,  I 
found  my  poor  old  mother  starving.  Just  think,  a  poor  old 
woman,  over  seventy,  and  no  food  to  eat!  Oh!  it  killed 
me  to  see  her.  Madre  de  Dios!  Seventy  years  old,  and  no 
food;  I  had  no  money  to  give  her.  You  know,  general, 
we  were  not  paid  off."  (The  general  nodded  his  head,  and 
the  archbishop  blew  his  nose.)  "I  had  nothing,  not  even 
a  crust  of  bread,  to  give  her.  I  went  out  of  my  mind. 
My  poor  old  mother,  who  would  have  given  her  life  for 


1810-1822]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  343 

me,  starving!  I  went  out  and  entered  the  church.  I 
knelt  down  before  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  prayed  to  her 
for  help.  I  was  praying  even  for  so  little  as  a  piece  of 
bread,  when — I  am  afraid  you  will  not  believe  me,  gentle- 
men, but  it's  true — the  Blessed  Mary  of  Grace  stepped  off 
her  pedestal,  took  off  her  crown,  and  laid  it  in  my  hand." 

"  What!  the  statue  ?"  shouted  Bolivar. 

"  The  statue,  as  true  as  I  am  a  living  man." 

There  was  a  dead  pause  in  the  trial. 

"  I  think,  general,"  said  the  archbishop,  after  a  long 
silence,  with  a  queer  twinkle  in  his  eye,  "  that  this  is  a  case 
of  a  miracle." 

The  general  looked  at  him  for  a  moment,  and  a  queer 
twinkle  came  into  his  eye,  too. 

"Prisoner,"  said  he,  in  a  voice  which  was  not  as  harsh  as 
he  perhaps  intended  it  to  be,  "  the  archbishop  says  this 
was  a  miracle,  and  he  is  a  judge  of  miracles.  Miracles 
are  his  business.  You  can't  be  punished  for  a  miracle,  so 
you  are  acquitted.  But  if  I  ever  hear  again  of  your  fool- 
ing with  statues,  I'll  have  you  shot.  The  court-martial  is 
adjourned." 

And  I  dare  say  the  two  good  old  men,  as  they  walked  off 
arm  in  arm,  thought  they  would  eat  their  dinner  that  day 
with  a  better  appetite,  because  they  had  not  sentenced  the 
young  soldier  to  death. 


CHAPTEK  LII 
THE  WOMAN  FROM  NAPLES 
A.D.  1833-1840 

BY  the  will  of  Ferdinand  the  Seventh,  his  successor  was  to 
be  his  daughter,  Isabella,  who  was  less  than  three  years  old 
when  he  died;  and,  until  she  grew  up,  her  mother,  Chris- 
tina, whom  the  people  called  "the  woman  from  Naples," 
was  to  be  regent.  To  this  will  Ferdinand's  brother  Car- 
los refused  to  submit,  on  the  ground  that,  according  to 
his  understanding  of  the  law,  women  could  not  reign  in 
Spain  ;  he  gathered  round  him  a  party  of  friends  who 
were  willing  to  fight  for  him.  He  was  a  narrow-minded, 
pig-headed,  fat-witted  Bourbon,  who  could  never  quite 
thoroughly  get  it  through  his  head  that  the  world 
moves. 

I  dare  say  that  he  would  have  cut  less  figure,  but  for 
the  temper  of  the  people  at  the  time.  In  the  cities,  and 
among  educated  Spaniards,  the  long  domination  of  the 
Church  had  disgusted  them.  The  priests  were  hated  and 
loathed  as  fiercely  as  they  had  once  been  reverenced.  To 
a  mob  at  Madrid,  Seville,  or  Cadiz,  a  priest  in  canonicals 
was  like  a  red  rag  to  a  bull.  In  Madrid  a  white-haired  old 
priest  in  his  robes  passed  a  party  of  workmen. 

"  Old  man,"  cried  one  of  them,  "  why  do  you  wear  a 
woman's  petticoat  ?" 

"  Because,"  said  the  graybeard,  intrepidly,  "  I  am  a 
priest  of  God." 

"  Take  that  for  your  God,"  said  the  workman,  knocking 
the  old  man  down. 

The  priest  rose,  wiped  the  blood  from  his  face,  and  ten- 
dered the  other  cheek.  "  Strike  there,  too,"  said  he  to 


'ALL  THE  DAY  LONG  I  AM  HAPPY 


1833-1840]  A  CHILD'S  HISTOKY  OF  SPAIN  347 

the  ruffian;  and  the  crowd,  admiring  his  grit,  shouted, 
"  Good  for  you,  father  !" 

Isabella's  reign  had  hardly  begun  when  cholera,  which 
was  then  raging  all  over  the  world,  broke  out  in  Spain. 
Ignorant  people  said  it  was  the  work  of  the  monks  ;  that 
they  had  poisoned  the  wells.  Riots  broke  out,  monasteries 
were  attacked,  and  the  priests  murdered  by  scores,  while 
in  the  chief  cities  mobs  went  round  shouting,  "  Down  with 
the  monks  !" 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  country  parts,  and  especially 
in  the  pasture  country  of  the  north,  Navarre,  the  Asturias, 
the  Basque  provinces,  and  Galicia,  where  old  fashions  pre- 
vailed, where  only  one  person  in  eight  could  read,  and 
there  were  no  books  or  newspapers,  where  the  peasants 
wore  the  garb  which  their  ancestors  had  worn  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  and  tended  their  flocks  and  fished  the  bays  just  as 
they  had  done  before  the  discovery  of  America,  the  priests 
were  as  strong  as  they  ever  had  been.  The  peasants  would 
stand  no  trifling  with  the  Church,  and  when  they  heard 
from  their  curas  that  Don  Carlos  was  a  true  Christian, 
who  told  his  beads  early  and  often,  and  who,  if  he  became 
king,  would  probably  restore  the  Holy  Inquisition,  while 
the  woman  from  Naples  and  her  friends  were  little  bet- 
ter than  infidels,  who  had  robbed  the  Church  already,  and 
were  likely  to  rob  it  again,  they  said  they  were  for  Don 
Carlos,  and  they  fought  for  him  in  their  old,  gallant,  stupid 
way. 

They  were  so  loyal  to  their  faith  that  they  kept  up  the 
war  for  seven  years.  Don  Carlos  did  not  do  any  fighting. 
He  preferred  to  walk  the  boulevards  in  Paris,  to  dine  at 
his  clubs  in  London,  to  skim  the  bay  of  Naples  in  his  yacht 
with  ladies;  but  he  read  the  accounts  of  the  Basque  peas- 
ants dying  for  him  with  a  good  deal  of  interest. 

His  best  general  was  an  old  officer  of  the  army  whose 
name  was  Zumalacarregui.  He  may  remind  you  of  the  old 
fighting  monks  of  crusading  times  :  a  hard,  cold,  iron 
man,  who  hardly  ever  spoke,  never  did  any  man  wrong, 


348  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN          [1833-1840 

never  spared  a  sinner,  or  kissed  a  girl ;  but  who  went 
right  on  with  his  work  as  if  there  were  no  such  things  in 
the  world  as  love  or  mercy  or  tenderness  or  human  weak- 
ness. This  old  warrior  won  so  many  battles  that  the  peo- 
ple of  Madrid  and  Seville  and  Cadiz  could  not  contain 
their  rage,  and  whenever  a  crowd  assembled  shouts  arose, 
"  Down  with  the  monks  !" 

The  people  of  Spain  generally  were  against  Don  Carlos. 
It  seemed  to  them  mean  to  try  and  cheat  a  little  three-year- 
old  girl  out  of  her  throne.  They  got  up  a  good  deal  of 
sentiment  about  sweet  little  innocent  Isabel.  I  believe  the 
sentiment  did  not  last  after  the  sweet  little  innocent  grew 
to  be  a  woman  ;  but  while  she  was  a  baby  it  was  strong. 
The  regent  struck  back  at  the  priests  by  laying  hands  on 
the  property  of  the  regular  religious  orders.  In  this  way 
the  government  fought  the  Church  with  its  own  money. 

But  the  woman  from  Naples  did  not  make  her  way 
into  the  Spanish  heart.  Her  husband  died  in  September, 
1833  ;  in  December  of  the  same  year  she  was  secretly 
married  to  a  private  soldier  named  Munoz,  by  whom  she 
had  ten  children.  The  Spaniards  said  that  she  was  so 
busy  trying  to  get  money  for  these  children  that  she  had  no 
time  to  think  of  the  kingdom.  She  made  her  husband  a 
duke,  and  spent  her  days  in  riding  with  him,  and  her  even- 
ings in  singing  and  dancing  in  his  company. 

Against  the  Carlists,  as  the  followers  of  Don  Carlos  was 
called,  the  queen  regent  sent  a  valiant  and  skilful  gen- 
eral named  Espartero,  a  native  of  La  Mancha,  and  after 
several  years'  fighting,  he  put  them  down.  Then  said 
Christina,  "  There  are  some  towns  here  which  are  giving 
me  trouble  about  their  fueros  which  I  have  taken  away. 
Go  and  put  down  these  people  with  a  little  cannon  shot  and 
a  few  cavalry  charges." 

"  Madam,"  said  Espartero,  "  they  may,  as  you  say,  be 
put  down  with  a  little  cannon  shot  and  a  few  cavalry 
charges.  But  I  will  not  be  the  man  to  put  them  down,  I 
would  rather  resign  my  command." 


1833-1840]  A   CHILD'S   HISTOKY   OF   SPAIN  351 

Christina  promised  to  restore  the  fueros.  But  in  a  few 
days  she  changed  her  mind,  and  said  that  she  would  not 
restore  them,  whereupon  Valencia  and  Barcelona  broke 
out  in  revolt.  Espartero  said  it  was  none  of  his  business. 
Thereupon  the  regent  flew  into  a  temper,  and  went  off 
to  Paris.  The  Cortes  was  not  distressed  at  losing  her,  and 
appointed  Espartero  regent  in  her  place.  This  was  in 
1840. 

He  proved  an  excellent  regent,  but  was  not  calm-tem- 
pered enough  to  manage  the  government  in  such  troubled 
times.  Christina  intrigued  against  him,  and  all  the  hun- 
gry politicians  who  wanted  office  and  plunder,  and  to 
whom  Espartero  would  give  neither,  worked  against  him. 
In  1843,  weary  of  strife,  he  resigned,  and  the  Cortes  de- 
clared that  little  Isabella,  who  was  thirteen,  had  come  of 
age,  and  she  was  crowned  queen.  Then  Christina  came 
back  to  Madrid,  and  ruled  the  country  under  her  daugh- 
ter's name. 


CHAPTER  LIII 

ISABELLA 
A.D.   1843-1868 

ISABELLA,  as  I  have  told  you,  became  queen  when  she 
was  thirteen  years  old.  She  had  only  been  half  educated,  and 
had  been  encouraged  by  her  mother  to  indulge  her  whims 
and  impulses,  however  foolish  they  were.  You  will  not 
be  sui'prised  that  she  grew  up  a  self-willed  young  woman, 
with  an  ungovernable  temper. 

When  she  was  fifteen,  the  queen-mother  ordered  her  to 
marry  her  cousin,  Don  Francisco.  Isabella  refused.  She 
hated  Francisco.  He  was  a  puny,  awkward,  shy  youth, 
with  a  squeaky  voice,  and  in  his  ways  more  like  a  girl  than 
a  boy.  Isabella  called  him  Fanny.  She  said  she  would 
have  none  of  him.  But  that  night,  Christina,  with  two 
men,  went  to  the  girl's  room,  and  lectured,  upbraided, 
scolded,  threatened,  and  bullied  her  all  through  the  long 
hours  of  the  night;  when  morning  came,  with  a  broken 
spirit  and  eyes  swollen  by  crying,  the  girl  surrendered. 
Christina  had  her  married  immediately,  for  fear  she  would 
change  her  mind.  She  told  her  mother  that  she  could 
never  love  her  husband;  and,  indeed,  she  never  did.  She 
took  pleasure  in  calling  him  Fanny  before  people,  and  in 
flirting  with  other  men  in  his  presence.  When  he  de- 
murred, she  put  him  down  with  a  look.  She  grew  to  be  a 
great,  tall,  swarthy  woman,  with  broad  shoulders  and  a 
rough  voice.  He  always  looked  as  if  he  had  been  her  little 
boy,  and  not  her  husband. 

Thus  married  and  settled,  the  young  queen  established  a 
court  after  her  own  heart.  It  was  full  of  profligate  men 
and  women,  who  did  nothing  but  gamble  and  drink  and 


1843-1868]          A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  353 

dance  and  ride  on  horseback  day  after  day.  The  only 
serious  occupation  they  had  was  to  gamble  in  stocks, 
and  at  this  they  made  vast  sums  of  money,  through  their 
possession  of  secrets  of  state.  All  good  Spaniards  — 
the  virtuous  Espartero  among  the  number  —  avoided  the 
court  as  a  plague-spot.  Many  of  them  left  the  country. 
Spanish  gentlemen  travelling  abroad  blushed  when  the 
queen  was  mentioned.  She  held  high  revel,  as  though 
there  was  nothing  to  live  for  but  pleasure,  and  that  was 
to  last  forever. 

It  did  not.  A  time  came  when  the  people  resolved  on  a 
change,  and  demanded  the  return  of  Espartero  to  power. 
He  did  not  last.  He  could  no  more  govern  that  intrigue- 
ridden  country,  with  the  queen  and  her  court  against  him, 
than  he  had  been  able  to  do  it  in  1843.  He  was  driven  out 
of  office  by  lies  told  by  the  gamblers  and  intriguers,  which 
the  queen  aifected  to  believe.  A  rough  soldier  named 
O'Donnell  succeeded  him.  He  rode  roughshod  over  every 
one,  and  when  the  queen's  husband, "  Fanny,"  opposed  a  bill 
to  confiscate  some  Church  property,  which  had  thus  far  es- 
caped, the  fierce  rough-rider  threatened  to  shake  him  till 
his  teeth  dropped  out.  But  intriguers  upset  him,  too,  at 
the  end  of  three  months;  and  then  the  most  adroit,  the 
most  foxey,  and  the  most  cold-blooded  man  in  Spain,  Ra- 
mon Narvaez,  became  prime-minister.  He  was  overthrown 
a  good  many  times,  but  he  always  got  back  to  power,  he 
knew  so  well  how  to  manage  the  Cortes  and  the  queen. 

Narvaez  was  not  a  great  statesman,  but  he  preserved 
order  in  Spain,  collected  money  enough  to  carry  on  the 
government,  and  steered  his  bark  through  the  rocks  and 
shoals  upon  which  other  prime  -  ministers  had  gone  to 
wreck.  Isabella  herself  did  not  much  care  who  managed 
the  government,  so  long  as  she  had  her  fun.  When  that 
was  interfered  with  she  was  a  tigress.  Once,  when  she 
had  been  driven  out  of  Madrid  by  a  riot,  which  was  put 
down  in  due  course,  Concha  sent  her  word  by  the  banker 
Salamanca  that  she  could  come  back,  if  she  came  without 
23 


354  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OP  SPAIN  [1843-1868 

her  favorite  Marfori.  He  had  scarcely  got  the  words  out 
of  his  mouth  when  the  furious  queen  flew  at  him,  as  if  she 
meant  to  throttle  him,  calling  him  vile  names,  and  spitting 
in  her  rage. 

Of  course,  she  did  not  like  liberty.  When  her  cousin, 
the  Duke  of  Parma,  visited  her  at  Madrid,  he  said  to  her: 

"  They  tell  me  you  have  got  some  old-fashioned  institu- 
tions here — Cortes  and  elections,  and  things  of  that  kind. 
Why  do  you  not  give  them  all  a  kick  over,  and  be  mistress 
in  your  own  house  ?" 

"Ah!"  replied  the  queen,  with  a  sigh,  "  I  wish  I  could." 

There  were  laws  enough  in  Spain  to  secure  personal  lib- 
erty. But  they  were  a  dead  letter.  Under  Isabella  a  man 
could  be  seized  in  his  own  house  and  shipped  to  the  Phil- 
ippine Islands,  and  his  property  confiscated,  without  any 
reason  being  given  him  for  the  act;  or,  he  might  be  taken 
out  of  his  house  at  Madrid,  and  ordered  to  live  in  a  re- 
mote village  at  the  farthest  end  of  Spain,  never  to  leave 
that  village  under  peril  of  his  life. 

Under  Isabella,  labor  in  Spain  was  despised  more  than 
it  had  ever  been.  The  sons  of  well-to-do  people  would 
not  work.  They  would  live  on  a  crust  of  bread  and  a  pa- 
per cigar,  but  they  would  not  put  in  six  hours  a  day  at  a 
desk  or  a  bench.  They  preferred  to  beg.  Under  Isabella, 
beggary  became  a  regular  business.  Beggars  had  to  take 
out  a  license  as  livery-stable  men  do  here.  If  they  had 
powerful  friends,  they  got  a  petty  office  under  government. 
The  salary  of  these  offices  was  very  small  —  only  a  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year  or  so;  but  those  who  held  them  gener- 
ally got, rich  by  taking  bribes.  With  money  anything 
could  be  got  from  the  government,  and  every  one  in  the 
service  of  government  took  money. 

Fortunes  were  made  by  speculators;  Queen  Christina  is 
said  to  have  made  forty  millions  of  our  money  by  gambling 
in  stocks.  A  governor  of  Cuba  reckoned  to  make  a  million 
in  three  or  four  years — also  by  bribery.  Another  class  of 
people  who  got  rich  were  the  smugglers.  Spain  had  an  ab- 


1843-1868]          A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  stAitf  355 


surd  tariff,  which  had  been  framed  in  the  hope  of  encourag- 
ing home  manufactures;  the  result  was  that  foreign  goods 
were  smuggled  into  the  country,  and  the  tariff  yielded  no 
revenue. 

The  women  of  Spain,  under  Isabella,  were  generally  idle, 
ignorant,  and  devout.  They  went  to  mass  and  confession 
regularly.  But  I  am  afraid  this  excellent  practice  did  not 
improve  their  morals  or  their  behavior.  Queen  Isabella 
herself  was  devoted  to  her  religion.  When  she  started  out 
on  her  wildest  and  most  helter  -  skelter  spree,  she  gave  a 
ring  or  a  string  of  beads  to  a  statue  of  the  Virgin,  which 
she  kept  in  her  bedroom.  Spanish  ladies  were  less  gentle 
than  American  or  English  or  French  ladies  of  the  same 
period  ;  they  were  cruel  to  animals.  I  suppose  that  this 
fault  was  due  to  their  fondness  for  bull-fights,  as  the  poor 
quality  of  the  books  written  under  Isabella  was  due  to  the 
indifference  of  the  people  to  letters.  The  only  books  sold 
in  Spanish  book-stores  were  works  of  devotion  and  transla- 
tions of  the  worst  kind  of  French  novels.  It  is  only  in 
our  day  that  really  good  Spanish  books  have  once  more 
been  written. 

In  the  year  1868,  the  Spanish  people  rose  in  disgust  at 
the  imbecile  and  impure  life  of  this  vile  woman.  They  did 
not  want  her  life.  They  only  wanted  her  to  get  out.  The 
streets  were  filled  with  people  who  called  after  her  the  most 
dreadful  names.  The  prime  -minister,  Don  Jose  Concha, 
threw  up  his  office  and  went  into  the  country.  Isabella 
was  told  that  she  must  go.  She  telegraphed  to  the  Em- 
peror of  France,  who  was  at  Biarritz,  begging  for  help. 
But  Napoleon  the  Third  knew  too  much  to  interfere. 

On  September  30th,  1868,  on  a  bright  sunny  morning, 
Queen  Isabella,  with  her  husband,  her  four  children,  her  fa- 
vorite, and  her  confessor,  alighted  from  a  railroad  carriage 
at  Biarritz  in  France.  The  French  emperor,  the  empress, 
their  son,  and  attendants  were  waiting  on  the  platform  to 
receive  the  strangers.  When  they  met,  Isabella  burst  into 
tears,  and  the  empress,  who  had  known  her  a  long  time,  cried 


356  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN          [1843-1868 

out  of  sympathy;  the  emperor  stood  like  a  man  of  stone, 
with  a  stern,  sad  face;  the  little  King  of  Spain  hopped  round 
like  a  tomtit,  holding  a  child  by  each  hand,  and  fidgeting 
with  his  feet.  There  was  a  short  talk  in  a  waiting-room, 
and  it  is  now  known  that  Napoleon  then  told  Isabella  he 
could  do  nothing  for  her. 

The  Spanish  party  boarded  the  car  on  their  way  to  Pau. 
Just  before  the  train  started  Isabella  cried,  in  Spanish,  "I 
have  not  kissed  the  empress  good-bye."  Eugenie  sprang 
upon  the  gallery  of  the  car,  and  offered  her  cheek.  That 
pure  cheek  had  never  before  been  pressed  by  such  impure 
lips.  Isabella  tried  to  kiss  the  empress  on  the  other  cheek; 
but  Eugenie  had  leaped  down  and  was  gone. 

From  Pau  the  ex-queen  went  to  Paris,  where  she  lived 
in  splendor,  having  laid  her  hands,  before  leaving  Madrid, 
on  all  the  valuable  property  she  could  carry  away. 

So  she  fades  out  of  history. 


CHAPTER  LIV 

SPAIN   IN   OUR   DAY 

A.D.    1868-1890 

WHEN  Isabella  had  been  got  rid  of,  without  bloodshed, 
the  best  and  wisest  public  men  of  Spain  met  in  Madrid 
to  decide  how  the  kingdom  should  be  governed.  For  the 
moment,  authority  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Marshal 
Serrano,  General  Prim,  Senor  Sagasta,  and  Sefior  Zorilla, 
who  were  all  honest  men,  well  thought  of  by  the  public. 
When  the  Cortes  met,  Serrano  was  made  regent,  and  then 
the  question  arose  who  should  be  king,  for  it  was  agreed 
that  the  Spanish  people  were  not  sufficiently  educated  in 
politics  to  carry  on  a  republic. 

Several  gentlemen  were  proposed.  There  was  Louis 
Philippe's  son,  the  Duke  of  Montpensier,  who  was  always 
ready  to  take  anything  that  offered.  There  was  Leopold 
of  Hohenzollern,  a  rather  hungry  German,  who  quite  fan- 
cied the  idea  of  being  king.  The  people  preferred  Espar- 
tero,  but  that  wise  old  statesman  had  had  enough  of  pub- 
lic life,  and  positively  refused  to  accept  a  throne  in  the 
place  of  the  olives  and  oranges  he  loved  to  raise.  Others 
were  mentioned,  but  at  last  the  choice  fell  upon  Arnadeo, 
the  second  son  of  King  Victor  Emanuel  of  Italy.  He 
also  refused  the  crown,  not  once,  but  twice  and  thrice; 
but  the  Spaniards  persisting,  he  finally  accepted. 

He  was  sworn  in  on  January  2,  1871.  He  was  a  tall, 
open-faced  young  man,  as  honest  as  the  day,  meaning  to 
do  right,  and  intending  to  allow  no  one  to  swerve  him  from 
what  he  believed  to  be  right.  His  idea  was  that  Spaniards 
should  govern  Spain  through  their  representatives  in  the 
Cortes,  and  that  he  had  no  right  to  set  his  will  over  theirs. 


358 


A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN 


[1868-1890 


But  he  had  not  the  least  notion  of  allowing  any  party  to 
use  him.  He  did  not  believe  in  the  show  or  flummery  of 
royalty.  He  walked  the  streets  alone,  dressed  like  any  other 
gentleman,  and  he  was  as  ready  to  chat  with  a  poor  man 
who  was  in  rags  as  with  a  grandee  of  Spain. 


THE  GREAT  SQUARE  AT  MADRID 

This  did  not  suit  the  blue-blooded  Spaniards,  who  were 
sticklers  for  dignity  and  display.  Nor  did  the  simple,  lady- 
like behavior  of  the  queen  please  the  noblewomen  of 
Spain;  they  thought  a  queen  should  be  something  grand 
and  overpowering.  Both  the  nobles  and  their  wives  began 
secretly  to  sneer  at  the  king;  they  called  him  a  Savoyard, 


1868-1890]  A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  359 

because  his  grandfather  was  King  of  Savoy — Savoyard,  in 
French  slang,  having  the  same  meaning  as  huckster  or 
beggar.  Taught  by  this  example,  the  rabble  of  Madrid 
shouted  after  him  "Savoyard"  in  the  streets;  and  one  day 
they  shot  at  him  as  he  passed  with  the  queen  in  his  car- 
riage. 

He  could  not  manage  the  Cortes.  Those  who  had  voted 
to  make  him  king,  thought  he  should  favor  them;  he 
said  the  King  of  Spain  should  have  no  friends  and  no  ene- 
mies, but  should  use  his  authority  equally  for  the  benefit 
of  all.  So,  gradually,  all  parties  worked  to  make  him 
trouble;  and  he,  without  the  least  regret,  resigned  the 
throne  on  February  llth,  1873,  having  occupied  it  a  little 
over  two  years. 

Then  a  republic  was  proclaimed,  and  the  executive 
power  was  placed  successively  in  the  hands  of  Pi  y  Mar- 
gall,  who  held  it  five  weeks;  Nicolas  Salveron,  who  lasted 
about  as  long;  Emilio  Castelar,  who  ruled  a  few  weeks 
longer;  and  Serrano,  who  had  been  regent  before.  Finally, 
on  December  31st,  1874,  the  republic  was  abolished,  and 
Don  Alfonso,  son  of  Isabella,  a  young  man  of  seventeen, 
was  elected  king. 

He  had  been  well  educated  by  a  bright  and  good  wom- 
an, Madame  Calderon  de  la  Barca,  and  had  never  seen 
much  of  his  mother.  He  was  a  brave,  frank  lad,  who, 
when  they  offered  him  the  throne,  answered  that  he  had  no 
objection  to  try  what  he  could  do.  If  the  Spaniards  got 
tired  of  him,  he  hoped  they  would  tell  him  so,  and  he 
would  step  out  as  Amadeo  had  done. 

He  reigned  until  he  died  on  November  25th,  1885.  His 
reign  was  quiet,  and  every  one  loved  him.  In  all  his 
eleven  years  of  power  he  made  no  serious  mistakes,  and 
the  intriguing  politicians  of  the  Cortes  gained  nothing  by 
quarrelling  with  him. 

When  he  first  became  king,  he  married  his  cousin,  Marie 
Mercedes,  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Montpensier.  It  was 
a  genuine  love  match,  and  Alfonso's  heart  was  broken 


360 


A    CHILD  S    HISTORY    OP   SPAIN 


[1868-1890 


when  she  died,  six  months  after  the  marriage.  The  Span- 
iards insisted  on  his  marrying  again.  This  time  his  wife 
was  Mary  Christina  of  Austria,  who  outlived  him.  She  is 
now  regent,  during  the  minority  of  her  son  Alfonso,  who 
will  presently  be  King  of  Spain. 


HOW  THEY  THRESH  GRAIN   IN  SPAIN 

Within  the  past  twenty-five  years  great  changes  have 
taken  place  in  Spain.  The  vast  domains  of  the  Church 
have  passed  into  private  hands,  and  in  many  cases  are 
being  intelligently  tilled.  Railroads  have  been  built  in 
every  direction,  and  with  this  help  the  people  of  each 
province  have  been  made  acquainted  with  their  neighbors 


1868-1890]          A  CHILD'S  HISTOKY  OF  SPAIN.  361 

in  the  others.  There  has  been  a  surprising  revival  of  trade 
and  industry.  The  Spanish  people,  who  had  been  station- 
ary for  a  century,  have  begun  to  increase  in  numbers. 
The  courts  now  generally  administer  even-handed  justice. 
There  is  an  excellent  police,  and  crime  is  pretty  generally 
punished.  Good  roads  have  been  made  in  the  countrv 
parts,  and  the  streams  have  been  bridged.  Common 
schools  have  been  established  everywhere,  and  the  law 
obliges  Spaniards  to  send  their  children  to  them.  In  the 
towns  there  are  excellent  universities.  Newspapers  are 
published  in  all  the  cities,  and  books  are  printed  which  it 
will  do  you  no  harm  to  read.  Steady  efforts  are  being 
made  to  put  an  end  to  the  race  of  beggars.  The  brigands 
have  been  wiped  out. 

Take  the  prospect  altogether,  and  you  can  hope  that  a 
new  day  is  dawning  for  Spain,  in  which  that  country  shall 
be  as  famous  for  the  virtues  of  its  people  and  the  prosper- 
ity of  their  homes,  as  it  is  for  the  beauty  of  its  scenery, 
the  exquisite  charm  of  its  climate,  and  the  loveliness  of  its 
women. 


INDEX 


Abderrahman  the  conqueror,  34. 

Abderrahman  the  First,  38. 

Abderrahmaa  the  Second,  49. 

Abderrahman  the  Third,  56. 

Abencerrages,  the,  114. 

Adrian  the  Cardinal,  194. 

Albensin,  the  prison  at  the,  147. 

Alberoni,  Cardinal,  294. 

Alfonso,  King,  359. 

Alfonso  the  learned,  98. 

Albania,  capture  of,  118;  siege  of,  120. 

Alhambra,  the  palace  of,  110. 

Almagro,  227 ;  his  death,  234. 

Almanzor  the  vizier,  66. 

Almoravides,  the,  85. 

Alva,  the  duke  of,  247. 

Amadeo,  King,  359. 

Anne  of  Austria,  275. 

Arabs,  the,  25. 

Aragon,  the  laws  of,  106. 

Aranda,  303. 

Arian  faith,  the,  14. 

Atahualpa,  229 ;  made  prisoner,  232 ; 

executed,  233. 
Ataulph  the  Goth,  10. 
Auto  da  fe,  an,  240. 
Ayesha,  123. 
Aztecs,  the,  209  ;  conquered  by  Cor- 

tez,  220. 

Barbara,  Queen,  300. 
Bayard  the  chevalier,  190. 
Baylen,  the  battle  of,  321. 
Baza,  the  siege  of,  137. 
Bernardo  of  Soldana,  73. 
Boabdil,  rebellion  of,  123. 
Bolivar,  Simon,  342. 

Carlos,  son  of  Philip  II.,  242. 


Carlos,  Don,  the  pretender,  344. 

Carthageua,  plunder  of,  7. 

Carthaginians,  the,  5. 

Carvajal,  298. 

Celtiberians,  the,  2. 

Cervantes,  284. 

Charles  the  First  (the  Emperor 
Charles  V.),  193;  his  reign,  197; 
his  abdication  and  death,  198. 

Charles  the  Second,  285 ;  is  be- 
witched, 286 ;  his  death,  289. 

Charles  the  Third,  301. 

Charles  the  Fourth,  307. 

Cholula,  massacre  at,  207. 

Christina  of  Naples,  336. 

Church,  the  growth  .of  the,  277 ;  bars 
progress,  301. 

Cid,  the,  80 ;  his  death,  83. 

Clergy,  the  condition  of,  in  1500, 
150. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  156;  be- 
friended by  Queen  Isabella,  159; 
starts  on  his  first  voyage,  160; 
lands  at  Guanahani,  162 ;  received 
at  court,  168 ;  second  voyage,  171 ; 
third  voyage,  178;  his  poverty, 
183;  his  death,  184. 

Cordova,  Gonsalvo  de,  190. 

Cordova,  the  city  of,  39,  58  ;  mosque 
at,  61 ;  palace  at,  ib. 

Cortes,  the,  27. 

Cortez,  203 ;  invades  Mexico,  204 : 
fights  at  Tlascala,  206;  captures 
Mexico,  224 ;  death,  235. 

Council  of  Blood,  the,  247. 

Cuzco,  city  of,  230. 

De  Soto,  234. 

Duels  of  Moors  and  Spaniards,  139. 


364 


INDEX 


Egmont,  Count  of,  248. 
Escurial,  the,  272. 
Espartero,  General,  348. 
Espifiosa,  Cardinal,  264. 
Eulogius,  the  mad  priest,  62,  55. 

Farinelli,  298. 

Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  180;  his 
meanness,  182;  his  death,  192. 

Ferdinand  the  Sixth,  298. 

Ferdinand  the  Seventh,  313;  abdi- 
cates, 319;  is  restored,  329;  sup- 
ported by  French  bayonets,  334 ; 
his  death,  336. 

Ferdinand  the  Third,  tomb  of,  94. 

Flora  and  Mary,  52. 

Florida  Blanca,  305. 

Francis  the  First  of  France,  196. 

Francisco,  King  Consort,  342. 

Fueros,  the,  150. 

Gibraltar,  Cape  of,  2. 

Godoy,  Manuel,  307 ;  his  end,  312. 

Gonzalez  of  Castile,  74. 

Goswinda,  Queen,  14. 

Gothic  kings,  13. 

Goths,  the,  10. 

Granada,  the  Moors  at,  110;  the  fall 

of,  125;    Moriscoes  driven   from, 

264 ;  desolation  of,  264. 
Guatemozin,  223. 

Hacam  the  Moor,  45. 
Hannibal,  5. 
Hidalgo,  Manuel,  337. 
Hisham  the  caliph,  70. 

Ignorance  of  the  people,  301. 
Incas  of  Peru,  the,  230. 
Inquisition,  the,  240 ;  executions  by, 

306. 
Isabella  the  Catholic,  128;  feeds  the 

army,  137;    befriends   Columbus, 

157  ;  opposes  slavery,  175. 
Isabella,   Queen,  344 ;    marries   her 

cousin,  352;  abdicates,  355. 
Isabella,  wife  of  Philip  II.,  240;  her 

death,  243. 
Iturbide,  General,  339. 

Jesuits,  power  of  the,  302  ;  expelled 
from  Portugal,  France,  and  Spain, 
302-304. 


Jews,  expulsion  of  the,  144. 

John  of  Austria,  Don,  147,  250 ;  sub- 
dues the  Moriscoes,  251 ;  fights  at 
Lepanto,  254 ;  goes  to  the  Low 
Countries,  255  ;  his  death,  ib. 

Joseph,  King  of  Spain,  320 ;  runs 
away,  326. 

Juana,  crazy,  196. 

Juntas  formed  by  the  people,  320. 

Las  Navas,  the  battle  of,  89. 
Lepanto,  the  battle  of,  254. 
Lisbon,  earthquake  at,  300. 
Low  Countries,  the,  245. 
Loyola,  195. 
Luque  the  priest,  227. 
Luther,  195. 

Madrid,  Joseph's  entry  into,  320 ;  Na- 
poleon's entry,  323. 
Mahomet,  24. 
Malaga,     expedition    against,     122: 

siege  of,  130. 
Malta,  the  island  of,  258;   invaded 

by  Turks,  259;  their  defeat,  261. 
Malta,  the  Knights  of,  257. 
Margaret  of  Parma,  245  ;  her  rule  in 

Low  Countries,  246. 
Marina,  206  ;  marriage  of,  225. 
Mendoza,  Cardinal,  186. 
Mexico,  declares   her  independence, 

337 ;  wins  it,  340. 
Mexico,  the   city  of,  214;  siege   of, 

221  ;  capture  of,  224. 
Montezurna,  208;  made  prisoner,  212; 

dies,  218, 

Moors,  the,  18  ;  description  of,  24. 
Morelos,  Jose,  338. 
Moriscoes,  expulsion   of,    147-;    rise 

against  the  Spaniards,  264 ;  their 

final  expatriation,  265. 
Murat  at  Madrid,  315. 
Murillo,  284. 
Musa  the  Moor,  19,  33. 

Napoleon  overturns  Charles  IV.,  311 ; 

enters  Madrid,  323. 
Narvaez,  General,  353. 
"Noche  triste,"  the,  219. 

O'Donnell,  General,  353. 

Olivarez,  281. 

Oran,  the  capture  of,  188. 


INDEX 


365 


Orange,  the  Prince  of,  248. 
Orsini,  Madame,  293. 

Peace,  Prince  of,  308. 

Pelayo,  57. 

Peru,  the  people  of,  229. 

Peter  the  cruel,  103. 

Philip  the  Second,  236 ;  marries  Mary 
of  England,  238  ;  favors  the  In- 
quisition, 246 ;  his  miserable  gov- 
ernment, 272  ;  his  death,  276. 

Philip  the  Third,  277 ;  his  death,  281. 

Philip  the  Fourth,  281 ;  his  death, 
283. 

Philip  the  Fifth,  292  ;  abdicates,  296 ; 
dies,  297. 

Pizarro,  227;  invades  Peru,  229; 
murders  Atahualpa,  233 ;  is  mur- 
dered, 235. 

Ponce  de  Leon,  Marquis  of  Cadiz, 
119. 

Ramiro,  74. 

Rhodes,  the  island  of,  257. 
Riego,  General,  334. 
Ripperda,  297. 
Roderick  the  Goth,  17. 

Saragossa,  siege  of,  321 ;  maid  of,  ib. 
Savary  and  Ferdinand,  316. 
Scipios,  the,  6. 
Serrano,  Regent,  357. 
Sertorius,  the  Proconsul,  9. 
Seville,  the  city  of,  94. 
Sotomayer,  190. 
Spain,  description  of,  1 ;  famous  Ro- 


mans born  in,  8 ;  condition  of,  in 
A.D.  1500,  149;  under  Philip  II., 
268  ;  under  Charles  II.,  289 ;  un- 
der Charles  IV.,  317 ;  under  Isa- 
bella, 354 ;  under  Regent  Maria 
Christina,  360. 
Spanish  Succession,  War  of  the,  292. 

Tarik  the  Moor,  21. 
Teocallis,  the,  210. 
Theodemir,  31. 
Tlascala,  206. 

Toledo,  massacre  at,  46 ;  the  arch- 
bishop of,  268. 

Torquemada  the  Inquisitor,  144. 
Trappist,  the,  334. 

Valenzuelo,  285. 

Valette,  the  Grand  Master,  260. 

Vandals,  the,  10. 

Vargas,  the  Lord  of,  98. 

Vega,  Lope  de,  284. 

Velasquez,  284. 

Vittoria,  battle  of,  327. 

Wamba,  King,  14. 
Wellington  in  Spain,  326. 

Xeres,  the  battle  of,  18. 
Ximenes,  Cardinal,  146,  187. 

Yussef  the  Arab,  85. 

Zahara,  the  capture  of,  117. 
Ziriab  the  Persian,  50. 
Zumalacarregui,  General,  347. 


THE    END 


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